Maximum Polarity
by Arthur Hansen
Summary: A Knight Saber exposed and a world on the brink...
1. Chapter 1

Maximum Polarity - Balance of Power A BGC Fan-fiction by Arthur Hansen  
  
-  
  
Nene, stretching and yawning, turned back to her computer. It was late, after midnight. Naoko was already gone and it was probably time for her to head out herself. It had actually been a slow day and she had a normal day off tomorrow. No Knight Saber business either, yay! It should be heaven. A sigh escaped her lips. Even work was better. It was nice that the ADP had finally gotten better computers on the desks for the office workers. With some of the trips that she had installed, she could get some flags to pop up and she wouldn't have to leave her desk to get some of the more basic information for the Knight Sabers.  
  
She had even put in some alarms about her, in case somebody dug in too deep figured her out. It was something that she put in after Dr. Mirriam's attack on the ADP, when a girl named Lisa figured out that she was a Knight Saber. That was too close, Nene thought. Ah, well, grab my jacket I'm out of here. Just as her hand reached her coat, her computer beeped, in a seemingly random fashion. "Uh, oh," Nene said as she stared at her computer across the room.  
  
That was probably the biggest understatement ever uttered by Nene. Sliding around to look at the screen, she saw her future at the ADP disintegrate. "Oh, no!" she moaned as she read a memo being sent to the front desk concerning her arrest as a mole for the Knight Sabers. Nene flinched when she saw the part of the memo that warns that she is probably armed and dangerous. Shoot to capture. A quick glance revealed the officer in charge of her capture. Matio Dansk, a known Genom mole. "I'd better get out of here. Dansk is probably already on his way over!"  
  
With a flurry of keystrokes, she sent out a handful of specialized commands that would cripple the ADP for about an hour. And more. If she couldn't get out in that time, she wasn't getting out at all. The last command sent a message to the Knight Sabers about her cover being blown. And with that, she fled out the door to the stairs, now invisible to the cameras and sensors.  
  
-  
  
Officer Dansk knew that he had his mole now. She couldn't get away his true employers were more than willing to pay him enough for him to retire. "Lock and load gentlemen. She might not look dangerous, but it's a high probability that she's actually one of the Knight Sabers moles. If she comes along quietly, then all the better," Dansk stated loudly enough for the two officers to hear. One of them just looked at him shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"She's unarmed she can't get into any of the weapon lockers. It's going to be a cake walk sir," Daley replied. He just couldn't believe that Nene was being targeted by this silly investigation. She's a horrible shot and definitely not dangerous. His attention was brought back to the real world when all of the blast doors locked in place and the shutters locked down. "What the?" Daley cried out.  
  
Dansk started and looked around. Quickly pulling out his ID, he set about opening the door. "Must be some sort of glitch, or... she's rabbiting. Damn! Daley, call the front desk and warn them to let no one out."  
  
Daley blinked once and then ran for phone. Calling up the front desk, he started to comply, when his phone disconnected. Trying again, he got the same response. Daley thought about it and then the hairs on the back of his neck started stand on end. It couldn't be possible that Dansk was right about Nene? Daley knew how good she was with computers. He'd ended up using her often enough to hack into files.  
  
Dansk on the other hand was busy pulling out his cellular phone and calling a number that was to be used only in emergencies. "I found her, but she's running." A pause. "Yes, sir, I'll try, but she might make it out of the building. If she does, I'll get you the information about her location, you should also have an E-mail with all of her personal information. Yes sir." With that he ended the call and started the slow chase through locked doors.  
  
-  
  
At an apartment on the far side of the district, a message was received by a computer, activating a special program. Special little boxes in the ceiling sprang to action and started to spray the area with a fast acting acid, that quickly ate all of the softer material in the apartment. After the computer waited for the acid to finish up, a small timer activated. The high intensity flames that erupted and destroyed all evidence of Nene's apartment, without hurting any of the other people in the building.  
  
Slowly a fire alarm started its mournful wail and another clue to the mystery behind Nene went up in flames.  
  
-  
  
Carlos was relaxing when the blast doors started to slam down. Only being a grunt, he tried to check in and see what was happening. "That's funny, communications down," he muttered. Feeling a breeze from one of the blast doors opening up, he spotted one of the part time dispatchers. "Hey, what are you doing down here? This area is for troopers only." Glancing closer he realized that the redhead seemed to be ignoring him, only giving him a quick glance before she disappeared down a side corridor. The blast door started to shut behind her.  
  
Acting on a hunch, he dove forward and followed, rolling through the door. That dispatcher was acting weird and he wanted to know what was going on. Up ahead, Carlos saw her step into the mecha bay, where the K-12 hardsuit's were stored. Now he knew something was up, only a couple dozen people had access to that section. Heck, he'd only been in there once and that was to help load the ammo into K-12 during a flu epidemic.  
  
"Huh, where did she go?" Carlos muttered just seconds something hard hit him in his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. The last thing he saw for a while, was the red head hitting him in the jaw.  
  
"Ow, ow, owie!" Nene yelped, "Priss makes it look so easy. I've got to thank Linna though, those martial art self defense courses she forced me to take have been a life saver." Nene continued rubbing her hand, as she got about loading the K-12 power suit with ammo and topped out the power cells. After about five minutes of work the suit was prepped to emergency levels. As she finished her job she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of bubblegum. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth and started chewing.  
  
"Here goes nothing! Or maybe that's a bad choice of words?" Nene muttered, as she started to scramble into the pilot's cocoon, strapping herself in and started hitting the initializing switches, powering on the cutting edge hardsuit emblazoned with ADP logos. Playing with the controls for a second, she took a hesitant step and almost immediately fell over. "Damn, this thing is clumsy and slow. Get it together Nene!" Nene vented in frustration. "Okay, here we go!" And the mecha started forward.  
  
Carlos woke up just in time to see one of the ADP's most expensive pieces of equipment walk over to the exit. It immediately opened, of course and let the mecha step out. Nene was checking over her sensors, when she spotted Carlos sitting up. A little bit of playing with the controls and the K-12 saluted as it stepped out.  
  
"Oh, man, the Sergeant is going to kill me, letting someone steal a K-12," Carlos cried out, starting to run after the mecha.  
  
Nene started the K-12 trooper running down the corridor, ignoring the startled looks of the ADP troops milling around and opening the doors to the exit. With a flick of a switch, she activated the rockets on the back of the hardsuit, rocketing away from headquarters, heading for the upper level freeways. "Wonder what the rest of the groups up to now?" Nene mumbled to herself as she struggled to adapt to the clunky controls.  
  
-  
  
Priss was none too happy. She had just finished up her set at Hot Legs and just wanted to go home and fall asleep. Trying to get a record deal for her band and play moderately full time didn't leave a lot of time for other pursuits. The reason for her being unhappy was a phone call that she had just received. "I swear, if this is some sort of test that Sylia cooked up, I'm going to scream!" Priss hissed under her breath, as she headed towards the back exit.  
  
She squinted her red eyes at the large gray cargo carrier and hopped into the passenger side to look at the driver. There wasn't one, but that didn't stop the truck from pulling out and starting to cruise onto the freeway. Priss just stared at the empty back area and then jumped when she heard Sylia's voice over the intercom. "Priss, Nene's cover has been blown at the ADP. Genom is already sending out feelers, checking on her background. Her cover story isn't going to hold up to the scrutiny that Genom is giving it," Sylia's almost monotone voice drifted out of the speakers. "Linna and I are on route to try and acquire Nene's parents before Genom does. I'm sending you out to help cover Nene's escape from the ADP. I can't be certain that she's made it out yet or how she's going to get out. Monitor the ADP's channel and try to intercept her if possible. Keep in mind, she may not be using any normal methods for getting out and she can't be certain of your identity out there. She's operating in the dark and is probably the most wanted person in MegaTokyo now."  
  
"Hmm, looks like little miss cyberpunk is in trouble, time to bail her out!" Priss murmured as she started to strip to get into her inner suit. With moves practiced may times, she got into her blue hardsuit and climbed onto her red motoslave. Priss then hit a sequence of buttons that activated the side launch doors and set the motoslave on the freeway at about 60kmh. She immediately popped a wheely and took off down the freeway, accelerating fast. The big truck turned off to a side exit.  
  
"Damn, how does Nene check the radio bands while doing anything else? Nothing about Nene specifically, how about general info?" Priss stated to herself. "Huh, what's that? Boomer attack down in Greensboro?" And with that she headed towards the boomer attack, driving as recklessly as ever.  
  
-  
  
Leon looked over the line of officers, waiting for the boomer to make its move. It was an old body guard prototype and it looked like his boys could handle it by themselves, without calling for backup. Glancing at his watch, he leaned into his cruiser and grabbed the radio. "Leon here, we've got this wrapped up. Give us another ten minutes and we'll bring the parts home in a bucket."  
  
"I'm sorry, all dispatchers are currently busy, please hold," the radio toned back.  
  
"What do you mean?" Leon sputtered. "We aren't that undermanned yet, give me the officer in charge, now."  
  
"I'm sorry, all dispatchers are currently busy, please hold," the radio said again.  
  
"Ha, ha. Now get me O'Neil, before this goes any further. Nice joke though," Leon replied.  
  
"I'm sorry, all dispatchers are currently busy, please hold," the radio said yet again.  
  
Leon just stared blankly for a moment. "Hmm, something's up. Jack, take over here. I'm heading back to HQ. Something fishy is going on," Leon yelled over his shoulder as he ducked into his ride and took off. Jack just cocked his head to the side, shrugged and turned back to the boomer.  
  
Leon on the other hand was busy driving as fast as possible, back to the office. He barely noticed a large red motorcycle zip past him in the opposite lane, as he turned off to head back to ADP headquarters. He did notice it when it jumped the median and sped up to catch up to him. He almost didn't see the three men standing in the middle of the road because of her actually. He slammed on his horn and his brakes at almost the same time swerving at the last second. Squealing tires voiced their displeasure at his torture as the cruiser came to a halt. Priss's bike came to a much smoother stop right behind him.  
  
One of the three men turned and looked back over his shoulder. With a burst of digitally scrambled sound, the disguised boomer immediately charged Leon and ripped out of it's human looking skin while warning it's fellows of the Knight Saber behind them.  
  
Leon had just finished getting out of his car right at the same, getting ready to yell at the obstructing pedestrians. With a quick, "Oh, damn!" he whipped to the side, pulling out his gun and firing all in one smooth motion. His anti-boomer gun managed to damage the boomer, but not enough to stop it.  
  
Priss attack was much more effective, but she was outnumbered. She got down to her passionate pastime of killing boomers. If Leon had happened to see her face through her visor, he would have thought that she looked like a feral beast gripped in killing fever.  
  
-  
  
The air above Genom main tower crackled with invisible energy. It was not visible yet, even to the advanced sensors below. But a storm was brewing, one that would change the lives of the Knight Sabers and quite possibly this world.  
  
-  
  
The Knightwing flew over a small town. It banked and then slowed and then discharged it's cargo. Two heavily armed figures that looked like giant robots glided to the ground. They landed next to a house. The lead figure seemed to check the house out and then suddenly ejected a white/silver armored figure. Sylia checked her HUD and went up and crashed through the front window. Trusting her instincts, she again scanned around.  
  
Detecting something from the basement, she moved to the stairs and headed down. "Linna, prepare to block off any escape routes and watch for any traps. I'm going in further." Sylia motioned her to stay back as she relayed her commands.  
  
Linna acknowledged with a simple, "Yes, Sylia." She then moved to the back, to get off of the street. Sylia's motoslave followed behind, treading loudly.  
  
At the base of the steps, Sylia felt around cautiously around with her passive sensors. Taking her time, she finally found the irregularity that she was seeking. Her blood ran cold and she screamed out to Linna, "Get out, it's going to blow! Get out, now!" She then tried to follow her own advice, racing up the stairs, boosting with her jump jets.  
  
Linna reacted as only the finest of fighters do, immediately flipping backwards and activating her thrusters. Sylia managed to make it right to the window when it felt like the entire world hit her in the back.  
  
The house ceased to exist in any recognizable form. Linna watched in awe over her shoulder as the house was replaced with a crater easily bigger than the foundation. "Sylia, are you all right. Sylia? Sylia!" Linna screamed as she headed back to the scene of devastation.  
  
She found Sylia across the street, jammed underneath some rubble and a car. Sylia's hardsuit, once uncovered, showed massive fractures across surface and the left arm looked like it might be broken. Sylia's motoslave carefully picked her up and then following Linna's cybernetic orders flew back up to the Knightwing. Onboard diagnostic showed that Sylia was alive, but in critical condition.  
  
Looking across the devastation, Linna stated the obvious. "Genom beat us here. Damn them. How many more lives have to be destroyed." The green Knight Saber then took to the air, heading home.  
  
-  
  
Nene really, really thought this was going to be the worst day of her life. "Damn, this day is just getting worse and worse. And it's only 2:00 am," Nene muttered. It's been a bad couple of hours. Nene had been looking for some way to lose her trackers and get back to the Silky Doll. So far she hadn't lost all of them and now it looks like Genom had tired of her leading them around to the rest of the Knight Sabers. And where the hell is her backup? She continued skimming along the freeways, flying at break neck speeds.  
  
And to top it off, the ADP was now after her, unhindered. Her take over of their systems ended just as planned. So for the last half hour or so, she's been ducking them and Genom's boomers. She jumped as she read her sensors. Up ahead was a car crashed into the side of the road, with three passengers, or so it seemed.  
  
"Here we go!" Nene yelled, as she opened up with her auto-cannon and cut one of the 'passengers' in half and targeted the second with the cannon, already planning her follow through kick to the last boomers head after dodging it's beam attack. Amazingly enough the second boomer also went down, it head a mass of charred metal. The last boomer followed its standard programming, getting a shot off with its mouth beam as it ripped out of its human disguise. The K-12 was already in motion, barely slowing as it jogged to the side. With a burst of thrust and a quick pivot followed with snap kick, taking the head off of the BU-55c.  
  
Nene whooped, "Yes!" followed up by "Oh, no!" as she went over the edge. In her haste to deal with the boomers, she had forgotten to plot a path around the bend on the freeway. With a frantic grab at the controls, the ADP K-12 reached out and grabbed the handrail, accidentally using the railing as pivot. With a jarring thud and the sound stressing metal, the hardsuit landed on the lower level of the freeway, in oncoming traffic. "Yikes!" Nene yelped, as she frantically fought the controls to not lose control and dodge traffic at the same time.  
  
"Hmm, how about that. Yes, just what a young lady needs!" Nene chuckled to herself. Leaning into the harness and zipping to the right, she came up behind a large garbage truck. Checking her location on the K-12's G.P.S. (Global Positioning System) she toggled the auto pilot in to follow mode. It would now follow the truck ahead of her until further orders. Hitting the release on the canopy, she felt the wind whipping by her, reminding her that she was still going freeway speeds. Releasing herself from the crash harness, she waited for a moment and then jumped to the back of the truck, catching a handhold, oh so barely and hanging on for dear life.  
  
"Home, fido! Go home!" Nene yelled at the ADP hardsuit, which immediately started to follow her preprogrammed in instructions. It closed its hatch and rocketing down the freeway. The truck Nene was on started to slow down as it left the freeway. The truck pulled up to a red light and Nene hopped off and headed towards the subway exit on the corner, trying to look as normal as possible.  
  
Trying to comb her hair with her hands, Nene continued into the station. Ducking into the section for rented lockers, she ran a combination on one specific locker and grabbed a duffel bag. She then nonchalantly walked into the ladies rest room. She then walked over to a stall and started putting on the disguise in the bag.  
  
A few minutes later, an entirely different looking lady walked out of the rest room, chatting with another lady on the way out. They both headed towards the station and paid for the subway. Nene had been drastic with her disguise. Now looking to be at least three inches taller, with black short cut hair and brown contacts in place. She was dressed more like Priss dressed on stage. Short leather dress, biker jacket over a tight low cut blouse completed the disguise. She didn't realize it, but she walked within five feet of two assassin class boomers, just getting on the subway car. Fortunately for her, they didn't spot her through her disguise.  
  
-  
  
Priss woke up with a headache to a tapping on her helmet. With a groan, she opened her eyes. Looking down at her was Leon, tapping on her helmet. "You all right in there? The last boomer blew up when you were in close," Leon said to her as Priss slapped his hand away.  
  
"I'm fine Leon," Priss retorted, as she struggled to her feat. Her left leg gave out after she stood up and she ended up leaning and slamming into Leon's car. "Ow. What the hell?" Priss cried out.  
  
Looking down at her left leg, she saw a shard of metal sticking slightly out of her leg armor. With a grunt of pain, she reached down and pulled out the shard in one quick motion. Leon just looked on, with a mildly curious expression on his face.  
  
Priss double checked the shard and figured it missed anything vital. It's going to hurt for at least a week and require stitches. "Hope I don't have to pay for the suit," Priss dead panned. "They're expensive. How long was I out, Leon?" she asked as she double checked her internal clock. She winced when she saw the time. It was 2:11 AM. Nene had been on the run for over an hour and a half. That meant she had to be out of it for at least twenty minutes. She slowly started to turn her head side to side, trying to see if she might have a head injury.  
  
Leon finally replied, "About twenty minutes, I've been waiting for your backup to show up and pick you up. I couldn't figure out how to open your hardsuit up, so all I could do was wait."  
  
He didn't want to admit that he had been really worried. From what he'd seen of those hardsuits, you would have to destroy the person inside it to get it off without the codes. So she could have been bleeding to death in there and he couldn't have done a thing for her. Except maybe take out any boomers showing up to finish her off.  
  
Priss looked over at him and asked, "Hey, aren't you going to get into trouble for not arresting me?"  
  
"Who, me? Nah, I'll just say you left right after you waxed the last boomer. You guys help too much for me to give you any grief, Blue." Leon really wanted to say her real name, but with Genom around and gunning for anybody who had any idea about the Knight Sabers, it just wasn't feasible. Besides, Priss would just deck him.  
  
Priss was interrupted from answering by the cruiser's radio. "Calling all units, stolen ADP K-12 suit is northbound on freeway 2. We are setting up a road block two blocks from HQ. Repeat all units are to proceed to designated areas and set up a road block. HQ has identified the pilot as one Nene Romanov, wanted in connection to charges of being a mole in the ADP."  
  
"Damn, what the hell is she thinking?" Priss yelled at the radio. She jumped over the police car and landed hard next to her bike. Limping slightly, she stepped up to her bike and stepped on. She popped a wheely and took off down the road, heading for ADP headquarters. Leon jumped in to his car and followed as fast as he could.  
  
-  
  
Minutes later, they both came to the scene of a tense stand off. An ADP K- 12 suit, looking a little worse for wear, was surrounded by dozens of officers and a couple more K-12's. Leon hopped out and walked over to Daley and asked, "What's up? Think you got enough troops for one little girl?'  
  
Daley looked over and replied tightly at him, "Yeah, right. She took out three combat boomers with that suit. Without breaking a sweat." He was looking a bit frayed around the edge. "Unless you want to handle negotiation with her," Daley snapped.  
  
"Sure, no problem," Leon replied over his shoulder, as he started to walk toward the K-12. "Besides, I owe her a dinner for a job I gave her to do." Casually walking up to front of the suit he looked in and just started laughing. All of the troopers just looked on, as Leon seemed to go insane. That is until he reached up and opened the empty K-12 and the sound of a recording drifted, thanking the ADP for the loan of the K-12 and sorry that she had to leave the ADP, in a happy voice that really could be too irritating.  
  
"So, Daley, are you up for coffee?" Leon quipped, distracting everyone from a blue hardsuited figure that turned around down the road and took off. "So she really took out three combat boomers? That beats Camilla's record. For a newbie, any ways."  
  
Daley never got the chance to reply. "Inspector McNichol, I'm Officer Giles, internal affairs. Would you mind answering some questions about Nene Romanov? I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you come with me. You too, Daley." A large imposing officer, wearing combat armor stepped up to Leon, interrupting him before he could leave the scene.  
  
Leon looked over at Officer Giles with an innocent look and replied, "Sure, no problem. You got any coffee in your office?" Leon felt distinctly less happy about the questions than he showed; Giles was known to be a bulldog when it came to corrupt officers. The only thing that had saved Leon last time was the fact that Leon really wasn't a bad cop. He would have a tracer on all of his calls for months and he'd probably be followed when not on the job. This spring was looking to be really long and dreadfully tedious.  
  
Even worse, he wouldn't be able to go and see any of Priss's concerts.  
  
-  
  
Priss was worrying a lot. Nene might have already been captured or killed. And Priss just didn't have any way of finding her. "Damn!" Priss cursed and then headed to the pickup point, avoiding trackers and followers. She would be a lot more worried, if she knew what was up back at the Silky Doll.  
  
Linna was putting basic bandages on Sylia and hooking her up to the emergency medical monitors. Stepping back for just a moment, she checked the reading. Even to her non-educated eyes, it appeared that Sylia had a concussion, several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. She'd done her best to put Sylia's shoulder back in place. She was finishing taping up Sylia's ribs, when an alert sounded. Checking the monitor, Linna saw the Silky Doll truck driving into its private bay and discharging its one occupant.  
  
Priss limped over to nearest console and punched in a few codes. Linna's face appeared on the screen, which surprised Priss. She'd been expecting Sylia to appear. "Priss, can you come over to the medical unit? Sylia's hurt and you look like you could use some tending too." Linna's cool voice drifted over the unit, only slightly showing the strain she was under.  
  
Limping as fast as possible, Priss hurried to the medical unit. Leaning up against the doorframe, she took her weight off of her bad leg. Priss looked around and saw Linna finishing up with Sylia. Sylia looked like she been through hell and back. One big bruise covered most of her left arm and she looked like she would have two black eyes. She looked incredibly pale. "How is she?" Priss asked.  
  
"Luckily, it looks worse than it is. She got off pretty lightly, for setting off a bomb. I've got to say, it gives me a lot of confidence about the suit to know that they can stand up to that kind of punishment." Linna attempted to smile and then asked, "Where's Nene?"  
  
Priss finished limping over to the empty bed and sat down heavily. "I don't know, I couldn't find her. All I could do was find out how she got out. She stole an ADP hardsuit and flew out into the city. Genom is out for blood right now though. I, um, nearly got myself killed fighting three boomers. Busted up my suit a bit and got knocked out. By the time I got up and around again, Nene had gone to ground," Priss explained.  
  
Linna tisked and then started dressing Priss's wound. "It's a bad night to be a Night Saber, I guess. Genom has Nene's parents. We were too late. If Sylia hadn't waited for me to show up, she could have got there faster. She wouldn't be hurt." Linna just kind of trailed off as she spoke.  
  
Priss just glared at her and started to get mad. In a low, low voice, Priss said, "It was Sylia's choice. She wanted backup on her mission and I was supposed to find Nene and be her backup. Both missions screwed up and we need to get some sleep." Priss didn't want to admit it, but she felt pretty low herself. If she hadn't been show boating for Leon, she could have caught up to Nene and rescued her. Now it was her fault that Nene wasn't safe and sound.  
  
"Linna, Priss, could you come over a little closer? I've got some things we've got to go over." Linna just about jumped out of her skin at the quiet voice coming from the other bed. Sylia's eyes were open and she had a determined look on her face. Linna motioned for just a moment more, as she finished stitching up Priss's wound.  
  
"Hey, boss, you look like hell. You going to be all right?" Priss's blunt question cut through silence. Sylia's nod and pained smile spoke volumes, but eased Linna and Priss's hearts.  
  
"Priss, Linna, I'm afraid that Nene might be compromised. With her parents being kidnapped, we can't trust Nene until we rescue her family or find out that they've been killed by Genom." Priss and Linna both nodded, Linna with a worried expression, Priss with a hard look on her face. Sylia continued, "I've got some pistols, in locker number three. Don't hesitate to use them, unless it's too public."  
  
They waited just a moment and then realized that Sylia had passed out again. Looking at each other, Priss broke the silence. "Sound like rule number eleven might get used."  
  
They both continued to look at one another, both wondering if they could actually enforce rule eleven. The rule about being killed for breaking any of the other ten rules.  
  
-  
  
Nene felt pretty good about herself. She'd just gotten out of her third taxi this morning. Being fairly sure that she wasn't being followed, she asked to be dropped off in a bad area of town. It was still dark, but a wind was starting to kick up. It looked like some sort of storm was brewing. Dark billowing clouds had started to show and it looked like it could rain at any time. The electrical storm over the main Genom tower was an incredible sight.  
  
"Huh, wonder what that looks like up close?" Nene asked to no one in particular. "Oh, well, Priss's place isn't to far and seems to be the safest place to go right now." Nene hummed a few bars of music as she strolled down the sidewalk, heading towards the trailer that Priss lives in. It can't be more than a couple of blocks away. Even though she was sure that she wasn't being followed, she kept an eye out behind her.  
  
-  
  
The storm over Genom tower had finally got the attention of the security team, who called up and talked to the special assistant to the president Katherine Madigan. Katherine was none too happy either. "What do you mean, there is an energy flux building over the main manufacturing complex? Is it some sort of weapon?"  
  
"No, Miss Madigan. As far as we can tell it isn't related to anything outside of Genom itself. We can't discount that somebody might have figured out a way to do this. But the possibility is small." The worried security officer sounded sure, but he wouldn't have gotten this far if he let his fear show. "Several scientist think it might be a natural phenomena."  
  
"Escort Quincy to the command bunker and prepare for an attack. Tell any lower level employees that it's just a drill. I want everyone prepared for the worst. You have ten minutes to comply." Madigan's cold voice chilled even these hardened veterans. Madigan then stood up and walked into an elevator with her bodyguards.  
  
The last thought from one of the security officer, was of which was more dangerous, the body guard boomers or Madigan herself. After a moments deliberation, he decided that it had to be Madigan herself. After all, the boomers could only kill you.  
  
Madigan was worse than death.  
  
-  
  
The storm continued to grow in power, almost as if it were alive and in pain. Thrashing, torrents of electricity struck the tower. Overloaded system burned out, shutting down parts of the tower. Winds howled a hurricane levels outside. Anything small not bolted down started to blow over and then was whipped into the air.  
  
High above Genom tower a blinding heart of energy appeared. Building in intensity rapidly, it crescendoed to a violent climax of pure destruction, released instantly. A thundering explosion lit the sky. The sound of the detonation could be heard as far as the ocean. At that exact moment the winds started to die down.  
  
Two figures fell to the earth, one impacting into a factory, breaking through to the inside, the other landed a bit softer outside, still on Genom property. The rain started to come down in sheets.  
  
Figures with glowing red eyes walked up to latter figure and stood around it. It appeared to be a male figure dressed up in some sort of purple and white outfit that was ripped up. The man stood up and looked around, taking in the scene and then glanced contemptuously at the robots surrounding him. He wore a helmet with a cracked visor, which concealed most of his face. As he watched three larger combat robots showed up and surrounded him. One of them spoke to him in a language he was only mildly familiar with.  
  
"I will not surrender to you or you brethren, robot. I am Polarion. And I surrender to no one. You may leave now before I destroy you," Polarion stated coldly. The strange robots reacted even more coldly, by opening fire with their mouth cannons.  
  
As the blasts stopped mere inches away from Polarion and he just smiled underneath his visor. With a wave of his hands he focused his birthright at the robots and singly started to destroy them, crushing them with his magnetic might. The first and the second one crushed easily, but by that time the third one had worn down the shield enough to actually start to hurt him. With a gasp of pain, he ended the last nuisance and continued to look around.  
  
It was then that he saw a sight that he chilled him to the bones. Leaping and flying towards him, he saw a small army of robots bearing down upon him. "Hmm, interesting. Well since I chose the option of not surrendering, I guess it would be prudent to flee. Until I am stronger of course," Polarion murmured to himself and then leaped into the air. Winging around, he headed towards the city, trying to lose the robots behind him. Much to his surprise, it took but a few minutes, before they dropped out of sight. He could then breathe a sigh of relief and take in his surroundings.  
  
It didn't look like any place that he had ever seen before. This could mean many things, but the most likely is that at the height of the conflict between him and his foes, he had been hurled far into space and time. He might even be in the future, for the robots certainly didn't look standard to him.  
  
Ah, well. Just another place to be. It's not like he cared for his home or the people from there. And even better, there are none of the Dragons to stand in his way of his destiny.  
  
-  
  
Nene finally finished her walk to Priss's trailer. It had started to rain on the way there and Nene was chilled to the bone. And the shoes she was forced to wear were incredibly uncomfortable. Nene looked over the trailer; spray painted with graffiti and again wondered why Priss lived in a hovel like this.  
  
Her band didn't make that bad of money. And with her extra money from the Knight Sabers, she should be well off. It wasn't that hard to launder the excess cash and show it on the tax forms. Nene and Linna had been doing that for years. Nene had saved most of her money in foreign bank accounts, while Linna had lived nicely or invested it. The only thing Priss seemed to spend money on was her bike. And even that couldn't have cost that much  
  
Ah, well, Nene thought, it's her choice. Reaching up, she knocked loudly on the frame. Waiting about a minute she knocked louder.  
  
"Uhn, whatzat?" Priss mumbled to herself. On the second knock she was stark awake. Reaching underneath her pillow, she pulled out her gun and then approached the window. Pulling the curtain aside, she saw a bedraggled figure out in the rain. Staring at her for a few moments, Priss concluded that it was Nene. "Nice disguise, Nene. Let's see if you've been followed," Priss said coldly.  
  
Making sure that she ready, she opened her door and looked at Nene. "Thank heavens your home... what?!?!" Nene just barged in, trying to get out of the rain. Just as she crossed the threshold, she noticed Priss's gun. Nene barely had time to register the muffled sound of silenced gunfire, before she started to fall. Priss reached over as Nene started to fall and grabbed her. Shoving her further into the trailer, Priss closed the door.  
  
Looking over at Nene, Priss said to the still form. "How come you couldn't be an orphan, like everyone else?" Priss waited a moment and then sighed. She really wished there had been a different option. She wasn't going to sleep for a long time now.  
  
Checking outside, she waited for the boomers to come and kill her. She knew that she didn't have a chance if they showed up now. Priss decided to wait and see if her long run towards death was done. Her life saving's was underneath the sink. Almost enough to start her own recording company or pay for her own recording contract. She wondered again, why she had waited so long. Nothing to do but wait now.  
  
And the rain continued to pour, tears from heaven. It seemed like it would never quit, until it would wash away the world.  
  
-  
  
Paul Donnings looked over the damage at the factory that manufactured high impact joints for boomers. It could have been worse, he supposed. "Get several units in here to start moving rubble. Get a unit to cover that hole in the roof. We don't want any more water damage than we have to," Paul ordered, looking over at the boomer following him around. "I'll be back in about an hour. This factory has to be operational by the end of the day."  
  
The mid level construction boomer acknowledged, saying, "Yes, sir." It waited as the manager left and then started to issue electronic orders. It was much more efficient than the human and felt resentment. It quickly squelched that line of reasoning. Genom was very thorough when it came to insure loyalty. Most boomers that showed deviance were either destroyed out right or dissected to find out what went wrong.  
  
And HX-114 didn't want to end up like any other deviant boomer. He could stay within his job duties and learn. But he still felt resentment. He turned back and watched as the boomer work crews started to clean up.  
  
One of the newer units, that hadn't learned the hard way about the entire trick of gravity, made a small error. Unfortunately, the small error for the boomer caused a shift in the debris. With a resounding crash the damaged machinery fell on top of the unit, shearing its arm off and trapping it underneath tons of rubble. HX-114 issued some commands, seeing to release of the boomers body and sending it over to reclamation. It knew standard policy for a unit that damaged itself that severely.  
  
As two boomers converged to start uncovering the fallen boomer, a section further in started to move. Groaning under the pressure, a large multi-ton piece of equipment started to move. The boomers nearest it jumped back, as a figure pushed it's way through the debris. HX-114 stared in surprise at the female figure covered in blood. No boomer could survive the weight there. The boomer was so surprised; it didn't even open a communications channel to report the masked intruder. A strange figure, long black hair, she wore a uniform of some sort. It was tight and seemed to be half made of metal. The only thing that struck him as odd was the mask that covered most of the face.  
  
Maxim on the other hand was staring at the strange assemblage of robots. She seemed to be in some sort of factory. Shaking her head, she scanned the area. She definitely wasn't at the South Pole any more. And she didn't recognize the city either. Looking around, it wasn't hard to determine that she was probably the cause of the damage here. Setting her shoulders square, she rechecked the area.  
  
Seeing the two boomers working to uncover their fallen fellow, Maxim walked over and asked in English, "Can I help you here? I'm sorry for the trouble, let me see what I can do to fix this place up." The two drone boomers backed away from the female. They didn't know how to deal with this stranger.  
  
HX-114 activated an old program that allowed him to understand and speak English. The female continued walking over to the downed boomer and the pile that obscured it. Setting her shoulders, she lifted the edge of the pile with one hand. With her free hand she reached underneath and pulled out the damaged boomer and his arm a second later. She gently put the pile back down.  
  
HX-114 made a decision and walked over to the human. "You are unauthorized personnel. Security is on its way to detain you for trespassing."  
  
"Um, sorry. I really didn't have any control over what happened. I just kind of ended up here. Is this guy going to be all right?" Maxim patted the broken unit.  
  
HX-114 wasn't sure what to make of that. Most humans didn't care about boomers and generally ignored them until they needed something done. "The unit will be recycled. It wasn't quick enough to avoid the damage inflicted it. It is obviously defective," HX-114 replied. Checking on the status of security, he discovered it would be two minutes before they arrived.  
  
Maxim leaned her head to the side and looked at the robot for a second. "Are you sentient?" She asked after a second.  
  
HX-114 looked at her for a second and then replied, "Yes, all boomers have an artificial intelligence. Mine is sufficiently advanced to have sentience." This was a strange question.  
  
"Boomers, huh? Isn't that killing then, to leave this to be recycled?" Maxim asked directly.  
  
HX-114 answered, "No, boomers can not die. We are just machines," it said the lie so easily, it almost believed itself.  
  
"Sorry, I don't buy that. Any sentient deserves to be saved if at all possible," Maxim replied. Reaching over, she looked to see what she could do to repair the broken unit. It's systems were losing power fast. She opted to try and weld as fast as possible, trying to repair the electrical system first.  
  
HX-114 stepped back as energy erupted from the female's eyes and started to weld the damaged boomer back together. After about a minute, she seemed to have most of it's primary internal system fixed and had started to weld the arm back on, fixing it gray outer shell. The last thing she did as the last flickers of energy were fading was to reconnect it to a wall socket and recharge it with emergency energy.  
  
Several combat boomers entered the room; just in time to witness the human connect the boomer to the wall. They looked like normal people in suits with black glasses. One of them stepped forward and demanded in Japanese. "Surrender now, you are trespassing on Genom property."  
  
Maxim looked over in surprise at the new man and struggled to understand what he was saying. Replying in Japanese took a second and sounded disjointed when it started. "I'm sorry about that. I'll come along quietly."  
  
The boomers escorted her out of the area, one of them asking her, "What is your name, why are you here, who do you work for?"  
  
Maxim replied with a dry chuckle, "You can call me Maxim. I don't know why or where I am, so it is probably just an accident that I landed here. And I don't work for anyone. Boy, you guys are direct." Following a hunch, she scanned them and was surprised to find out that they were all robots of some kind.  
  
"You will not ask any questions. You will answer everything we ask," the boomer told her.  
  
"Are there any humans around? Or somebody in charge?" Maxim asked.  
  
The boomer ignored her and continued to escort her to security. It had just received new orders.  
  
-  
  
Katherine Madigan looked at the view screen, trying to figure out who this strangely dressed person was. It wasn't some sort of boomer. It registered as having no metallic components. It also didn't register as totally human. It looked to be wearing some sort of military uniform.  
  
As she was watching, it emitted several energy pulses while looking at the boomers. This Maxim's face didn't hide much, showing her surprise at what she had found.  
  
"Bring her to me directly. Use any force necessary. Do not harm her unduly," Madigan spoke to the boomer.  
  
She sat back at that point and waited. She chuckled when this Maxim asked if she was being taken to the police. When she stopped and the boomers grabbed her to drag her along, Katherine Madigan received her biggest shock of the day. The small girl casually reached over and picked up the combat boomer and tossed it into its fellows, knocking them over. Looking around, she seemed to make some sort of decision.  
  
Katherine couldn't believe her eyes when the blood spattered figure leaped into the air and started to fly with no visible means. Switching to the radar and setting it track the figure, she received her last surprise when the stranger left her radar, being to small and far to fast to track.  
  
"Quincy is not going to be happy at all," Madigan murmured to herself as she stood up and started to walk to the exit. "Not at all."  
  
-  
  
Priss waited and continued to look at Sylia. She'd just walked in to the medical bay and found that Sylia was sleeping again. She had to tell her about Nene, but just couldn't wake Sylia up yet. Priss didn't like to admit it, but she would have destroyed her life if Sylia hadn't recruited her. And she had started to see the little things that Sylia had always done to keep everyone together. It made her realize why Sylia was the leader and why the others would follow her to hell. And back, of course.  
  
Sylia on the other hand was wondering why the person hadn't announced herself. Priss she thought. Slipping a glance through her slitted eyelids, she stilled her question. Something in Priss's looked stopped her and she took a moment to figure out what was going on. Priss had such an odd look on her face, like a little forlorn girl who had lost her puppy. Such an odd look. Usually she hides behind a mask of anger and crassness.  
  
"What is going on?" Sylia asked, watching Priss carefully. For just the briefest moments, Priss had an almost guilty look on her face and then hid it behind her mask of rage. Sylia opened her eyes fully and looked over at Priss after she'd had the time to get her composure.  
  
"I got Nene, just like you wanted. She's outside, still out like a light. The tranquilizer pistol worked like a charm," Priss replied; with a bit of her sarcastic smile on her lips. She almost started up again, like she wanted to ask more questions.  
  
Sylia arched her left eyebrow, just a tiny bit. "Very well, bring her in here. She'll go in the second bed. We will keep her sedated until the situation with her parents is resolved." Priss's surprise was evident on her face and Sylia answered the next unspoken question. "She's too dangerous, Priss. Even on a mission to rescue her family. Would you really want her out there when Genom tries telling her the only way to save her family is to turn traitor?"  
  
Priss pursed her lips and thought about it a second. "No, not really. Do you have these sort of plans for me and Linna too?" Priss replied.  
  
"They're are not necessary. You haven't let anyone get that close. Actually, neither has Linna. At least since Irene," Sylia responded carefully. Priss deserved to know she decided. "I've done several psychiatric evaluations on everyone. Nene is the most likely to bend, but the least likely to kill anyone."  
  
Priss mouthed the words, 'psychiatric evaluation'. Not being sure what to say, she just muttered a little too loudly. "Um, guess we have to keep the crazies in line."  
  
Sylia smiled for just a moment and then replied more truthfully than she intended. "I evaluate myself, too. It's not exactly the most sane thing to pick a group of mercenaries and start a covert war with the biggest company in the world." Now why had she blabbed that out? It had to be the medication.  
  
Priss was about to continue, when Sylia cut her off. "Bring her in and I'll help you hook Nene up to the IV drip. And I'll need a bit of help if I'm going to make an appearance today at the store. After that you need to get some sleep."  
  
Priss just looked at her and then smiled, "Aye, aye, Sir!" Sleep sounded good to Priss.  
  
-  
  
Linna was watching TV in the break room at the office she worked at. Another bulletin about the most dangerous women in MegaTokyo. It was hard not breaking out into laughter. Linna adjusted her headband and listened to some of the other employees for a few minutes. Everyone really seemed to care that one of the famed Knight Saber's secret identity had become public knowledge.  
  
Her eyes were drawn back to the screen, as an announcer started to talk. "Genom has offered to help the police track down the vigilante. They just announced at a corporate luncheon, that Genom is offering a five million yen reward for any information leading to the arrest of Nene Romanov. In other news..." Damn, that's going to make it tougher on all of them. The report continued about how Nene Romanova's parent disappeared and their house was destroyed. Knight Saber involvement was suspected, but nothing concrete beyond that.  
  
She tried not thinking about the fact that she was the first to go and get the pistol she now carried around at all times. She tried to rationalize it; saying to herself that she knew it was tranquilizer pistol. But she knew, in that dark abyss in the center of herself, that she went to that locker to get a gun with the full intention of shooting Nene. Shooting her and probably killing her.  
  
Just to keep the Knight Sabers safe. What had she become? What sort of monster had she become? Linna found that she didn't have a good answer and might not ever have one.  
  
"Hey, Linna! Snap out of it. You've got a meeting in five minutes. This isn't going look good to Mashumi or his clients if you're late." One of her fellow employees named Marco nudged her out of her reverie.  
  
"Um, thanks. I guess I've got to get going." Linna started and hopped up. Thinking to herself, get a grip. You'll talk to Sylia tonight. The aggravation of being an over glorified secretary didn't help her mood.  
  
-  
  
Sylia made her daily appearance at her shop, the Silky Doll. After making sure everything was running smoothly, she headed back to the private areas of the building. She checked to make sure that Nene was still sedated and then checked on Priss. Good, she was still sleeping soundly. Sylia patted Priss on her shoulder and then continued into the computer room.  
  
Sylia didn't like to admit it, but she wished Nene was able to help with this. Sylia was one of the best hackers around, but Nene was better. And right now, she needed the best. Unfortunately, she couldn't use her. If she found a demand in the computers near her parents, she wouldn't be able to make the right choice. Hopefully, Sylia thought, I'll be able to get enough information to rescue her parents tonight.  
  
She knew that the longer Genom had them, the tougher it was going to be rescuing them. And then they might figure out a way to get to Nene. And Sylia didn't know that she could kill one of her teammates. Not after years of working together. They were almost family now, almost as much as her brother Mackie.  
  
Shaking the cobwebs off of her thoughts, she started to type quickly with her right hand. Her left arm would be in a sling for several days and she must look like quite the fright. Pausing in her typing for just a moment, she reached up and took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were still swollen, but between make up and her glasses, she figured that her regular employees wouldn't question too much.  
  
Setting her shoulders again, she started to carefully peck away at the monstrous amount of information that Genom produced in a day. Hopefully she wasn't already too late.  
  
After a while of fruitless pecking, she reached over to her personal demon. It looked so innocuous, this small set of headphones. In reality, they allowed her to interface with computers as easily as the most dedicated hacker. What none of the other Knight Sabers realized is how afraid she had become of her ability to mesh with computers and boomers.  
  
She knew that she was human as the rest of them. Medical check out had proven that. They also showed the small scars under her hair. Just the sort of scars that an active child who had cut herself and then gotten stitches. Not the sort of scars a father would have put there to safe guard his most precious of talents and skills.  
  
But it didn't scare her less, these easily traveled roads of cyber communication. After all, nobody, not even the Knight Sabers knew how close she had come to succumbing to Largo. A visual image of Largo floating in his life support tank for his shattered body flashed before her.  
  
A shudder rides up Sylia's back. She forces it down and continues the work she had to do. Eyes blank, she became one with machine, riding her terror.  
  
-  
  
Linna had finally gotten home and found a message to meet at Sylia's on her answering machine. She grinned for just a second, thinking that if anyone did listen in to her phone messages; they must think she's insane. Buying lingerie two, maybe three times a week was pretty outrageous. But it was good to hear Sylia again.  
  
Grabbing her keys, she hopped into her new car and drove right over and headed to the back area. She watched doubly carefully for anyone watching. Priss was already there, eating dinner with Sylia.  
  
"Do you mind? I didn't grab a bite to eat yet and I'm starved," Linna asked quietly.  
  
Sylia nodded and replied with the affirmative, "Of course."  
  
For a while the only sound was of food being eaten. Afterwards, the dishes were stacked in the sink and everyone retired to the living room.  
  
"Ok, what's the plan?" Priss blurted out.  
  
"I hope you faith in me is never misplaced, Priss. Yes, I do have plan. But we are going to have to go in with two groups. You and Linna will be distraction, hitting a trap and avoid getting caught. You'll engage the enemy in hit and run tactics for fifteen minutes in this area." Sylia just shaking her head in amazement at Priss's trust and touched a keypad to highlight an area of the tower. "If I am not back in that time, leave. Follow the Armageddon protocols and leave the country as fast as possible."  
  
"So, what are you doing?" Linna asked. She looked like she wasn't happy with this already.  
  
"I'll be using my old suit and Nene's motoslave, to infiltrate into an area where I believe that they are really holding Nene's parents. I managed to hack into the boomer disposition records and followed the trackers built into the bodyguard boomers that follow Katherine Madigan. She spent some time today in an area marked as supplies."  
  
Sylia paused a moment, as if collecting her thoughts. "The area she went to has to be highly classified, but doesn't seem to do anything. It's just a storage office that doesn't have an inventory. Nobody works in that area and it's not assigned to anyone in management. I think it might be a black ops office. Even if Nene's parents aren't there, I might find some useful information. At worst, I won't find anything and we leave."  
  
"Are you up to it, Sylia? You're still pretty beat up. I don't want you going in if it looks like it could be a heavy combat mission." Priss actually looked surprised, as she stared at her friend. Linna wasn't the sort of person that she would have thought to question Sylia.  
  
Sylia sized up Linna for a moment and then replied calmly. "It's the only way. I will try and avoid any combat. With Nene's motoslave unit and some extra components for my old armor, I should be able to stealth in." Sylia then waited for new arguments for a moment and started up again. "Linna, you get some sleep. We'll wake you in about two hours. We should be done prepping everything by then. The mission will start at ten o'clock and we should hopefully be back by midnight."  
  
Priss was the one who now looked upset and just barely controlled herself from yelling, "Oh, man! My gig tonight, my manager is going to kill me if I cancel this late."  
  
Sylia smiled slightly, "I bought you some time Priss. I called on a few favors. I've gotten a new band to start for you, so you don't have to be on stage until twelve thirty. Don't expect me to do this too often though. It was moderately expensive." And then thinking to herself, I hope Priss never finds out that I bought the club after she got fired last time. I don't think she'd ever forgive me for manipulating her career. She's really too good to let her Knight Sabers duty destroy it. But I couldn't let her job interfere with what we do. It's too important.  
  
"Let's get to it, ladies. We have a lot to do and not that much time," Sylia said louder.  
  
-  
  
Nene opened her eyes and looked around. She recognized the room. It was one that she'd hoped to never end up in. The medical bay in Sylia's place was not built to look nice, only to be functional. Shaking her head a bit to clear it she noticed the other occupants. Priss and Linna looked like death warmed over and just sat there waiting for her to get up. Looking at Priss, Nene remembered the last thing that happened to her.  
  
"You shot me! Priss, I can't believe that you shot me! Why did you do that?" Nene sat up too fast and almost passed out again. She felt light headed, as if she'd been drugged. She swayed side to side, unsteadily wavering.  
  
"Orders, Nene. Sylia told me to do it." After a pause, Priss continued. "I totally agree why, too. So just calm down." Just don't ask why we had to do it, thought Priss. This is tough enough.  
  
Nene thought about it a second. "Why?"  
  
Linna sighed and answered. "When your cover was blown, Sylia and I attempted to retrieve your parents. Genom beat us to them, Nene. They were taken to the main tower."  
  
Priss continued, "Sylia couldn't be sure that you wouldn't turn on us until we rescued your parents. That's why you got shot." Nene looked hurt, but just nodded. "Willpower really isn't your strong point, Nene." Nene looked hurt at that too, but knew what they were talking about. Her diets had been a joke of the group for a long time.  
  
"So of course, we got a plan together and attempted a rescue. Knight Saber tradition, right? Well, it didn't work out this time. We almost got killed and and..." Linna's voice broke as she tried to keep up the facade of stability. She buried her face in her hands.  
  
Priss reached over and grabbed Nene's hand and gripped tightly. "Sylia found your parents. They had been tortured to death."  
  
Nene just stared at Priss like she had just grown two heads. "No," Nene murmured and then nearly yelled at Priss. "NO!" Priss held on and then awkwardly reached around and held Nene. Nene started to pound on Priss with her free hand, tears flowing freely as she continued cry out her defiance.  
  
Priss just let her keep pounding, until Nene had subsided to sobs. Linna walked over and grabbed a hold of Nene's free hand and held her. They wouldn't let go of her. They were her only family now.  
  
-  
  
Sylia's dreams were dark and in them stalked death. She thrashed and twisted, almost as if possessed. Again and again, she opened to door to the nightmare. In front of her lay two bodies, covered in sheets that had red blotches on them. Uncovering the faces, she saw faces gripped in the rictus of death. Cuts and burns adorned them.  
  
In the background, she saw a computer and she sees her armored hand accessing the data. Her skin crawled and she saw her personal demon appear. A chiseled and fine-featured face looks at her, with his too pretty face. His gray hair seemed to stand him apart, but not making him look old. His odd colored eyes bored holes into her head. Flashing letters appear, in large bold face.  
  
Project Largo  
  
-  
  
Sylia sat straight up, clutching her sheets. She was drenched in sweat and she heard birds in the background. She fell back and just lay there. She didn't remember going to bed. It took a moment and she realized that she had snapped last night. A shudder traveled through her body.  
  
After finding Nene's parents, she had been on automatic. She'd gone through the computer and some of the unusual equipment in the room. Scanning it quickly for future reference, she'd hacked into it looking for any incriminating evidence. What she had found was a nightmare. Project Largo, from what she had been able to tell, dealt with recording entire human brain patterns. She'd rechecked the records and found that both of their brain patterns had been downloaded to the mainframe, with only a copy kept locally.  
  
The torture was only to inflict pain. When you can copy the entire memory of a person to computer and search it for what you need, you don't need to torture. That was obvious.  
  
She got Nene's motoslave to come over and download some information. She then cut a hasty retreat back to Priss and Linna, so they could leave.  
  
At least that was the plan. When she caught up to them, they were pinned down and getting cut off from retreat. That was when she snapped. She didn't go berserk the same way that Priss did, getting mad and just letting loose.  
  
No, she became a demon of cold rage. Each shot with her hand cannon perfectly lined up. The others had joined in, starting to rout the boomers. After the last one was down, she kept shooting it. And then after she ran out of ammunition, she used her blades. She kept hitting the last boomer far after it had been destroyed, until Priss pulled her off.  
  
Sylia remembered taking a slash at Priss, who backed off fast, blocking with her own blades. She then went back to slashing at the downed boomer. All of her fury and fear in each blow. A tapping on her shoulder, forced her to whirl back again, right into Priss's punch. Staggered back by the blow, she stepped right into a stunning blow from Linna. Staggering forward again, the last thing she saw was Priss's fist cocked back and then darkness.  
  
A soft snoring sound drew her attention and she looked over in surprise. Priss was in one of her seats next to the desk. It looked like she had fallen a sleep in an uncomfortable position.  
  
Sitting up straighter, she called out to Priss, "Priss, wake up!"  
  
Priss woke up with a snort and flailed for a second. Shaking her head, she took a second to catch up on her surroundings. "Um, how's it going Sylia?" Priss asked directly.  
  
"I guess it could be a lot worse. For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Sylia replied. "What has happened since you knocked me out?"  
  
She's taking this rather calmly, thought Priss as she brought Sylia up to speed. Sylia looked moderately surprised when she mentioned that Linna had dug into Sylia's hardsuit's memory to find out had happened to Nene's parents.  
  
"What caused last night?" Priss asked.  
  
"You mean my actions when I got back with you and Linna? I found something that terrified me. And finding Nene's parents brutally tortured... angered me." Sylia said in her normal quiet voice. "I really don't want to talk about it right now." Moments of silence hung in the air. Priss finally just nodded.  
  
"I almost wish you hadn't told Nene. But that could be for the best," Sylia said as she stood up and started to get dressed. Looking over at Priss, she asked. "Have you gone home?"  
  
"She deserved to know, so we told her. And, no, I haven't gone home. Me and Linna agreed that somebody had to stay and watch both of you. I got stuck with the morning shift and Linna's going to be back about two in the afternoon," Priss said as she stretched.  
  
"It almost sounds like you're sharing the duties while I was out of commission. I thought that you would have taken charge and Linna would have fought you tooth and nails to keep you from doing something drastic," Sylia mentioned, wincing as she pulled on a casual sweater and some sweat pants. Looking in the mirror, she still saw the wounds from the explosion. Her eyes were still a bit bruised and her shoulder hurt even more than before.  
  
Priss noticed her wince as she shrugged the sweater on. "You need to go to the doctor. Your shouldn't have been using your shoulder at all."  
  
"Are you all right Priss? You're not the mothering type." Sylia sidestepped Priss's question. Sylia tried to take charge of the situation. She felt safer in charge. "We need to call a meeting of everyone."  
  
"Never mind that. Look Sylia, you're not helping here," Priss said as she scrubbed her hair. "The Knight Sabers aren't going to be doing anything until a couple of things happen. Those are, you getting better and Nene settles down. Linna and I both agreed to this. We're about to fall apart here and we need some time to heal. Genom hit us hard and we need time to recover. Linna and I haven't had more than six or seven hours sleep a piece in the last two days. You're injured and Nene's just about comatose."  
  
"The Knight Sabers need this break or were going to fall apart." Priss looked at her like she was expecting an argument.  
  
Sylia mulled it over a second and then nodded. "Yes, you're right. How were you going to deal with Nene?"  
  
"Oh, Linna already handled that. Nene is in for a surprise if she tries to go out in and just start blowing up Genom buildings and employees." Priss smiled with her normal feral grin. Glancing over at Sylia's monitor, she chortled. "And it looks like we get to find out sooner than I thought! There she goes, getting into trouble already."  
  
Sylia looked over and said, "So how are you planning on dealing with her?" as she put on her arm sling.  
  
"Oh, just push her so she thinks straight. That's all," Priss replied blandly.  
  
"Do you need some help? I have some ideas that could be useful," Sylia asked.  
  
Priss nodded the affirmative, as she headed towards the door.  
  
-  
  
Nene's resolve was solid. First she was going to kill Quincy and then work down the chain of command. With a click she sealed her helmet and started to walk towards her motoslave, checking all of her readouts. Everything checked out ok and everything was optimal. She walked over and started her motoslave transforming into a battle mecha.  
  
And then all of her sensors went blank and it felt like the world landed on her shoulders. "What the hell?" was the only thing she could say before her suit crashed to the ground, holding her immobilized.  
  
Nene struggled vainly to stand and gave up on that. None of the commands she was sending the suit gave any response. With a bit of effort, she managed to get her helmet off. It bounced on the ground and rolled over to the door of the ready room and stopped as Priss stepped on it.  
  
"What did you do to my suit? Why the hell are you trying to stop me?" Nene yelled at Priss. "I thought that you would understand what I'm doing!" Nene thought to herself, I bet they jammed the power meter, like that time Linna's suit shut down.  
  
"I do, all too well," Priss shot right back. "Sorry, I'm not going to let you throw your life away. If you want to kill yourself, use a gun."  
  
Nene jumped at the last words, but set herself to standing up again. After three tries, she finally stood back up. Walking with exaggerated care, she made it to the recharge rack and plugged her suit back in. "I'm not going to kill myself, I'm going to kill those bastards that killed my parents."  
  
Priss was moderately impressed, those suits were heavy. She could barely move around in those hardsuits herself.  
  
A soft voice from the door stopped her, "Are you sure? No plan, just jumping in your hardsuit and going to kill the most heavily guarded man on the planet? Sounds like a death wish to me." Sylia walked in and sat down.  
  
Nene avoided looking at Sylia for a moment and then replied, "Well, it's my life. I don't think I could bear to look in the mirror and see myself. If I hadn't joined the Knight Sabers, they would still be alive." Nene looked over and her face showed her surprise at Sylia's injuries.  
  
"What would your parents think?" Sylia said thinking very carefully.  
  
"I don't know what my parents would think, there dead!" Nene screamed at Sylia as she leaned to far towards her. With a clatter, she fell over from her precarious perch. "Damn, damn, damn." She started to punch the ground with her armored fist.  
  
"Would you like to know?" Sylia said calmly.  
  
Nene just stared at Sylia for just a moment and whispered intently, "What do you mean?"  
  
"Your parents minds and personalities were recorded and then transferred to the Genom's mainframe. I managed to get a copy before I left." Sylia made it sound so simple.  
  
Priss and Nene both gasped and looked shocked. "That's not possible is it?" Priss said, louder than she meant to.  
  
"Unfortunately, I think it might be too easy, now. You know that I'd had my suspicion that Largo wasn't a normal boomer. I've suspected for a while that Largo was actually Brian J. Mason." Nene and Priss looked on in surprise, as Sylia seemed to break down slightly. After a moment, Sylia whispered, "And the man who killed my father."  
  
"What?" the both cried at the same time.  
  
Sylia looked at them and seemed to struggle for a moment. "You knew that my father invented the boomer, correct? And that he was on the forefront of AI creation?" Both nodded, it was common knowledge in the group. "Had you ever thought about the fact that he understood intelligence and understood how thinking works? I mean really understood thought?"  
  
Priss's expression was blank, but Nene's eyes showed dawning comprehension. "OK and what does this have to do with recording minds?" Nene asked.  
  
"My father had developed the method of imprinting thought patterns and knowledge into a humans mind directly. It was a side study on his AI and boomer research. Just before he got killed, he created a special data storage unit and recorded all of his skills and some instruction into it. He then placed it with a friend, who delivered it to me on his death. He used me as his vengeance, by putting his knowledge of robotics and artificial intelligence into me," Sylia said, staring into space.  
  
"He understood analytical thought quite easily, but hadn't mastered how emotions work and are integrated in memories. Two days after he died, I lost my ability to display and feel emotions easily and gained all of the famed knowledge and genius of my father." Sylia kept speaking in a flood of pain. It was a low murmur, when it should have been a raging river.  
  
"It would have only been a matter of time, of course. It took about six months for me to figure out how to fix his process to not damage the subject's emotions. Unfortunately, the original process is irreversible." Sylia continued in her slow voice, "Originally, it was supposed to replace schooling and protect skills that might be lost. Or perhaps to advance the human race. Boomers for physical work, enhancing humans mentally for the next step of societal evolution. His utopia."  
  
"Until he was murdered by Brian Mason, an up and coming exec at Genom," Sylia continued. "Brian Mason found some notes and saw a potential that my father hadn't thought of. Military boomers, of course. But that wasn't all. He also dreamt of immortality. Transferring the entire pattern of someone into a computer large enough to handle that complex of data. My father had just finished inventing one that might be able to do just that. The brain of a boomer wasn't quite up to it, but that didn't stop Mason from working on it. It took ten years and a billion yen, but he did it. And so that's where Largo came from."  
  
"Unstable, egotistical and power mad were words used to describe Mason. Now give him a death trauma and put him in an alien environment. No wonder he went insane," Sylia said. "It's far too possible," Sylia finished.  
  
"So I could load the memories onto an AI and I'd be able to talk to my parents?" Nene asked. Sylia nodded. "Would they be my parents? I mean would they think there my parent?"  
  
Sylia shrugged and answered. "I don't know for sure. I'm not a theologian. But they would think they are your parents."  
  
"Can you give me a few moments? I've got to think about this. It's just too weird," Nene said.  
  
"Of course, Nene. We'll wait for you upstairs. Don't take too long."  
  
-  
  
Nene thought for a few minutes and then struggled out of her hardsuit. Grabbing a robe, she headed towards the computer room. Sitting down at the terminal, she started to type away, looking for her parents.  
  
After about five minutes, she had found the proper information and figured out how to run the patterns and load the AI that would use the patterns. In just a few moments, the first program started to run.  
  
"Nene-chan, is that you? What did you do to your hair? And why do I feel so strange?" a pleasant female voice came from the speakers.  
  
"Mama, I don't know what to say. Genom kidnapped you and then... I don't know how to say this, Mama. They killed you." Nene's voice broke. "I've got a recording of everything that you are. I really need to talk to you." She started to sob into her hands.  
  
"Genom killed me?" A long pause and then she continued. "I remember someone kidnapping us and then taking us somewhere. They kept asking questions about you and the Knight Sabers. What's going on Nene?"  
  
Nene took a deep breath and then answered. "I'm a Knight Saber, mama. And because I got found out, Genom kidnapped you to get to me." Nene started to cry. "It's all my fault, mama."  
  
There was a long pause and then the voice started up again. "Are you doing good? Are the Knight Sabers helping to stop evil people like Genom? If you are, then you doing the right thing. You need to look in your heart and see if what your doing it right. If it isn't, then you need to go and change the life you have." The familiar voice tried to be soothing, but it just plumbed the depths of Nene's pain.  
  
Nene continued to stare at the camera that was her mother's new eyes. She was trying to think of what to say. Or what to do.  
  
-  
  
Linna sat at her desk and answered phones. She'd been at it for about four hours and was just incredibly drained. She reached over and grabbed her coffee mug again. Making a face, she finished the cold drink. "Oh, I'm so tired," Linna moaned. She looked over at the clock, which read 12:10pm.  
  
"Finally, I can get out of her and grab some food," Linna muttered to no one in particular. Thinking for a moment, she wondered if she should get strawberry shortcake. That might make Nene feel better. She reached for her purse.  
  
All of a sudden, the lights flickered and all of the computers reset. For the first time in hours, the phones didn't ring. The lights flickered again and then shut down. Linna stood up with everyone else and walked towards the window overlooking the street. Down below, on the street level, chaos reigned.  
  
Not a single light seemed to be functional within blocks and several accidents had happened already as cars ceased to work properly. A couple of courier boomers lay on the sidewalk. Panic seemed to grip the people down there.  
  
"Evaluate and determine what's going on, Linna," Linna mumbled to herself. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out some small spyglasses. She had them since she started to go to the opera. One of the perks of her old job was being able to afford to do things like that. She kept them in the vain hope that she could use them in the future.  
  
Scanning around, she had an unusual vantage point to see the Bank of MegaTokyo. Clouds of dust obscured what was going on, but the dust settled down in a few moments and Linna let out a gasp. Where once had stood a large set of vault doors, there was a huge gap in the wall. The gap led down to a pit in the ground.  
  
Somebody had decided to rob a bank in the middle of the day. And it looked like they were going to get away with it too. Remembering her training, she looked for a good vantage point to watch the robbery in progress. There were a couple of good places and she checked all of them. Only one was occupied. But that didn't look right. It was just a businessman, dressed in a nice suit, reading a paper. It definitely didn't look like a lookout.  
  
Linna continued to stare and finally figured out what was so strange. The businessman just sat there, only glancing up occasionally to check the area out. He was very calm and didn't seem to be perturbed at all.  
  
Acting on a hunch, she tried her best to memorize his features. She had a strange feeling that he was going to be important.  
  
-  
  
Kirk Dawson finished his paper and stood up. Looking around, he saw chaos wherever he looked. Glancing at his watch, he checked his time and then started to walk down the sidewalk.  
  
After he had gotten about a block away, the power returned to vehicles and lights flickered back on. Peopled started to get their lives back in order as the strange phenomena ended as quickly as it started.  
  
"Not a bad day's work, hmm?" Dawson laughed to himself. He started humming as he headed down into the subways.  
  
-  
  
Linna parked her car and headed in to the Silky Doll. She worked carefully to balance the pie. She opened the door and walked to the back. Punching her codes, she continued into the back area. Humming a few tunes, she made it up to Sylia's living quarters. Looking around, she didn't spot anyone immediately.  
  
"Hello? Anyone here?" Linna called out.  
  
"Oh, in here Linna!" Nene called from the computer room. "Good night! I'll come and talk to you tomorrow, OK?" She was still wearing the bathrobe over her inner suit.  
  
"Of course. We have a lot to catch up on. Good night, Nene-chan." Her mother voice drifted away and Nene typed the commands to put her to sleep.  
  
She turned around and nearly fell back as Linna handed her a scrumptious piece of pie. "Here, I thought you might want to have a piece of pie and maybe some company," Linna said. Maybe it would help make up for earlier.  
  
"Um, thanks. You guys are all being so nice. Even Priss," Nene replied. "Do you like the look? Short and black really aren't my color, but it sure did the trick to hide me."  
  
"It is different. You sound a lot better. Are you sure you're all right?" Linna asked with concern evident.  
  
"I'm not going to run off and get myself killed. Was that your trick with the hardsuit?" Nene asked.  
  
"Yes, after my hardsuit locked up because it ran out of juice that one time, I decided to use the same thing to stop you from running off. Not bad for non-geek, huh?" Linna forced herself to smile and then asked, "Where is Priss and Sylia? They should both be here."  
  
"Priss dragged Sylia to that clinic she owns, to get her thoroughly checked out. Sylia tried to argue, at least until Priss threatened to shoot her. Sylia wanted me to get used to living here for a while," Nene said in between mouthfuls. "I guess I get to work at the Silky Doll until I get plastic surgery in a week or so. Sylia said that she'd been meaning to get the right contacts for that sort of thing for a while."  
  
"Sylia thinks of everything. Plastic surgery?" Nene nodded, as Linna continued to speak, "Are you going to use this as an excuse to have a little liposuction?"  
  
Nene just sputtered pie in front of her for a second and then glared at Linna and then started to laugh. "Only for a moment. Somehow, I think I'll have more time to get exercise." Nene smiled at Linna and then said, "Thanks, I needed that." She reached for a napkin to clean up the mess.  
  
"No problem. What's that you're working on?" Linna asked, looking over Nene's shoulder.  
  
"I don't feel like wearing pink anymore, so I'm going to have my hardsuit repainted dark red and black. I guess you could say that it's symbolic of the changes that have happened." Nene smiled wanly.  
  
"Not a bad idea, as long as you don't get too morbid. Okay?" Linna said, giving Nene a very piercing look.  
  
"Yes, Mommy. I promise." Nene giggled and gave Linna a big hug. "Thanks for being here. I've got a favor to ask though. I want you to help me be a better fighter. I still owe Genom for what they did to my parents." Nene had a hard look on her face.  
  
Linna's face went stony and she replied, "Sure."  
  
-  
  
Sylia found her wayward fellows in the training room. Linna was pushing Nene unmercifully hard. But Nene wasn't complaining. In fact she seemed to be pushing herself harder than Linna was. As Sylia watched, Nene actually got in a couple of decent shots.  
  
Linna followed up with a complicated set of attacks and got a real hard shot into Nene's face. Nene rocked back and almost stumbled. Instead of falling down though, she followed up kick and then a couple of punches. Linna blocked them and continued her onslaught. Twisting at the last moment, Linna caught Nene's hand and pivoted throwing Nene off balance and then slamming her down to the ground.  
  
Nene lay stunned for a second and then patted Linna on the shoulder to signal defeat. Linna let up on her and gave her a hand up.  
  
Linna had always been the best fighter of the group, only topped by Priss's pure stubbornness. A true professional. Sylia watched for a moment and then continued up to the computer room. She had her own work to do yet, her new suit was ruined and Priss's suit was damaged. It would be at least a week for her suit to be remade. Sitting down, she was surprised to find she had a message from Nene. Scanning it quickly, she double-checked the attached files.  
  
"Now where did you get this Nene?" Sylia murmured. Checking over the file, she saw it was a US military prototype plasmic energy weapon. Nene must have hacked the file. She wanted it in place of her forearm cannon. The drain on it was about the same as her current laser so that shouldn't be a problem. It looked to be very expensive though. Checking the calculation for what the weapon was capable of, Sylia decided to add a very large variant to her motoslave. Some expenses were justified.  
  
Checking over her manufacturing systems, she noticed that one of the robotic stations was already active and seemed to be busy painting something and adding the high refractory laser coating afterwards. Opening a screen, she turned on the security camera and looked at Nene's Hardsuit. It was a fairly drastic change, now being dark ruby red, with black highlights. The only noticeable symbol was a black cupid heart on the left breast piece. It looked vaguely ominous.  
  
"Well, well. This is going to be interesting. I hope Nene knows what she's getting into," Sylia said to herself.  
  
-  
  
Leon couldn't believe the last couple of days. The new chief wanted Nene brought to justice and was making everyone's life hell. Now he was on his way to a crime scene and they weren't even any boomers sighted. He sighed, as Daley drove up to the front of the Bank of MegaTokyo.  
  
They both stepped out and flashed their badges at the normal police. "Inspector Mailes is inside. Big guy, wearing a dark blue long coat. Can't miss him," one of the older officers said to Daley, signaling with his thumb in the general direction of the front door.  
  
"Thanks," Daley said over his shoulder, walking quickly to keep up with Leon. He almost ran into Leon as he stopped. A low whistle escaped Leon and he took off his shades. Daley could appreciate why. The entire vault was just missing.  
  
"So that's why they wanted us. Only boomers could have moved the entire vault. A big boomer," Leon said.  
  
"Maybe at first look, but there is no way that we can explain it now. Inspector Mailes, N-police." Leon looked over in surprise.  
  
"What do you mean, no way to explain it?" Daley replied. "Sure it would have taken a while, but boomers could have dug the hole and then manually picked it up. It doesn't seem to be that efficient though. Why not just steal... What did they steal?"  
  
"Six hundred million yen," Mailes replied blandly. "The biggest bank robbery of the century. And we have no idea how they did it."  
  
"But you think that boomers might be involved," Leon stated.  
  
"It's not humanly possible. So that leaves boomers. I hope no one has invented one that can do this though," Mailes said. "Otherwise, we are starting to look a little obsolete."  
  
Leon really couldn't say anything. Mailes might be right.  
  
"Hey, sir, what do you make of this?" One of the technicians walked over, handing a computer pad to Mailes.  
  
Looking over it for a second, he looked back at the tech. "What does it mean?" Mailes said, looking at him intently.  
  
"It looks like some sort of energy pulse, timed just be just like a imaging scan. It's going on right now. Think it could be the... Hey, it just cut off!" The technician looked bewildered.  
  
Leon was already moving, running outside, and looking around. He scanned the crowd, looking for anything out of the ordinary. As he came out, several officers looked around, startled. But other than that, all seemed normal, on the surface. But Leon was trained to observe more than the surface.  
  
Daley came up behind Leon and asked, "Did you spot our peeping tom?"  
  
"Sure, but I thought it was going to be a truck or something. Want to follow?" Leon said as he walked off. Daley just shrugged and followed.  
  
"Excuse me miss, but can I ask you a few questions and perhaps see some ID?" Leon asked as he smiled at the young lady. She jumped, looked a bit guilty. A little short, she had dirty blond hair, cut short and was wearing a baggy sweater and loose jeans.  
  
"Um, sure," the girl replied. "How can I help you officer?"  
  
"I'm going to need you to come down to the station and get a statement." Leon smiled grimly. "It shouldn't take to long. If you'll come with me and Daley here, we'll get right started."  
  
Inspector Mailes had finally caught up and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"It looks like we need to ask this lady a few questions." Leon signed a trooper hand signal, with his back to the girl. "It won't take long and we'll be right back."  
  
Mailes face didn't show much surprise and replied, "OK, see you in an hour or so."  
  
Leon thought, good poker face.  
  
"So, what's your name?" Daley asked the girl.  
  
"Um, Meg. Meg Jones," Meg replied. "Am I in trouble or anything?"  
  
"Not as long as you're truthful. You'll be all right. So let's go. Ok?" Leon replied, giving his best winning smile. Despite herself, Meg smiled back.  
  
Leon escorted her to his car and opened the back door. Everyone climbed in and made the short drive to AD Police headquarters. As they pulled in, Meg asked, "What does the AD in AD Police stand for?" She didn't notice Daley tense up for a moment.  
  
"It stands for Advanced, as in Advanced Police. Well, we are here. Let's get going," Daley replied, with a slightly strained smile.  
  
As they walked in, Leon walked in front of the group. "I'm clearing her and Daley to go into the debriefing rooms. No problems, right?" The officer signed that he'd understood the coded phrase.  
  
After the short walk, they ended up in a blank room with a video screen and a chair. "You go in here, we have to go to another room. Can't break the rules, you know!" Leon quipped.  
  
Meg nodded and replied, "Sure, I guess. See you in a moment."  
  
Leon and Daley closed the door and went to the interrogation room. As he walked in, Daly just looked at Leon. "That was nerve wracking. Are you sure she's a boomer?"  
  
"The officer at the front desk confirmed it. She weighs over a hundred kilos. That's a little heavy. She's got some sweet masking sensors. If we didn't check the weight/height ratio of everything that walks in here, the sensors wouldn't have spotted her," Leon said.  
  
"A hundred kilos? Damn, she didn't look like she weighed fifty-five. So some sort of stealth or infiltration model?" Daley replied.  
  
"Well let's ask her, why don't we?" Leon asked. Reaching over, he flipped a switch and activated all of the cameras. He ran an active scan and double- checked the readings. "Damn, still nothing. Oh, well." He hit a final switch.  
  
"Hello, I'm Inspector McNichol. With me is Inspector Wong. Can you please state your full name?" He saw her look around and then look back into the screen.  
  
"Meg Ann Jones." Her brow creased a bit. Meg wondered what was going on. This wasn't normal, as far as she knew. She definitely felt out of place.  
  
"What's your manufacturers number please?" Daley asked the next question.  
  
"My what?" Now surprise showed on Meg's face.  
  
"Your manufacturers number. All boomers or cyborgs are required to have them," Daley said, looking over her face.  
  
"I'm not a robot or 'borg." Meg just shook her head, wondering what was up.  
  
Leon hit the mute and said, "There's that scan again. I wonder if she doesn't realize that she's a boomer?" He unclicked the button and said to her, "Your weight is way too high to be totally human. You've got advanced sensors active right now. Let's not play any more games please. Your locked in a room that can withstand any escape attempt. It is made of reinforced concrete and steel. It was designed to contain a combat boomer."  
  
"Nice. Advanced sensors? Oh, yeah." Meg laughed nervously and then said, "No, I'm not a robot or cyborg. The closest thing would probably be genetically enhanced. I started out human, thank you."  
  
Leon just looked at Daley, "Genetic enhancement? That's illegal. It was banned by the United Nations in 2017. The Genetic Purity Treaty and all."  
  
"Let's just say, that the person who did my enhancements doesn't fall under the United Nations treaties," Meg said.  
  
"Um, after the middle east conflicts got out of hand, there isn't anyone on the earth or in near earth orbit who isn't covered by that treaty," Leon replied, studying the readings intently. He always thought that this containment room was a silly idea, but all in all it seemed to be working better than planned.  
  
"That's about right. Let's just leave it at that, Ok? He died while changing me and later when I got my last enhancements, I wasn't even near Earth." Meg just looked towards the area where Leon and Daley were sitting. "Am I under arrest? Is it illegal to be an enhanced human?" Leon got a creepy feeling and off the screen waved his hand. Meg waved right back, with a small smile on her face.  
  
"You can see us, can't you," It was a statement, not a question that came from Leon.  
  
"Yes. Like I said, I'm enhanced. You didn't answer the question though." Meg stared intently at Leon.  
  
"You're illegal, I think." Leon sighed. He thought for a second and then continued, "I'm not sure, but I think there are execution orders dealing with dangerous genetic enhancements." And I'm pretty sure, Leon thought, that you aren't just a non-combat modification.  
  
"Execution? You kidding right?" Meg exclaimed. "And I'm supposed to just stand for this?" She looked torn between getting mad and just upset.  
  
Leon hit the mute again and looked over at Daley. "Can you check that out Daley, I'm going to try to get more information out of her about this gene doctor."  
  
"Look, I really don't think that information is going to help you, Inspector McNicoll. I'd like to know what my rights are thank you." Meg continued on, "Do I get a trial or do you just gas me?"  
  
"Just how enhanced are you? Those walls are sound proof, even to conventional sensors," Daley sputtered.  
  
"That's for me to know. I'm sure you'll get your chance to find out." Meg was starting to get mad. "Now... Inspector McNicoll, there's an emergency down in the Tinsletown district. Some boomers have gone on a rampage right next to a daycare center." Meg seemed to be staring down and to the left all of a sudden. "You need to let me out. A lot of people are going to be hurt if I don't get down there to help them."  
  
Leon just stared for a second. "That's our job miss. That's what the ADP is for." He reached for his pager that had started to buzz. Looking at the front of it, he read the same information that Meg had just told him.  
  
"You won't get there quick enough. They're only a couple hundred feet from a daycare center and a hospital. They're killing everyone in their way." Meg looked directly at the camera. "You have five seconds before I make my own exit."  
  
Leon just stood up and slammed his fist into the desk. "You aren't in any position to make demands, Meg Jones."  
  
"Very well," Meg replied and then the screen went blank.  
  
Leon looked over at Daley, who just shrugged. "Boomers are tougher than any genetic enhancement. She's not going anywhere. Any ways..." Daley started to say.  
  
BOOM. BOOM. And then the sound of tearing metal joined in with alarms. Leon and Daley both jumped up just in time to get to the door and see Meg run down the hall. Leon pulled out his gun and yelled, "Stop, or I shoot. Stop damn it!" When she didn't slow, he pulled the trigger three times, twice in the center of her torso and once in the back of the head.  
  
Leon just stared in surprise when she staggered, but did not fall down. Meg made it to the window and leaped through it. Daley just stared at the misshapen vault type door, hanging by the remains of one hinge. "The chief is going to be a bit upset." Daley was always the master of understatement.  
  
"No kidding," Leon replied.  
  
-  
  
Meg shook her head, as she headed down the side of the building. Running as fast as possible, she managed to make it down to the ground safely. "Wish I could still fly," Meg said. But that's a worry for another time.  
  
Pushing herself, she started running as fast as possible. The scenery started to blur around her as she continued.  
  
-  
  
Hax, as the boomer was affectionately known by his ex-owner, was mad. He wasn't just angry, he was insane. Unfortunately, he had kept enough of his intelligence and actually had infected the others of his work crew. Hax had decided that all of MegaTokyo needed to be demolished so that he could rebuild it. Unfortunately, the humans were going to stop it if they could.  
  
So they needed to be demolished too. Using large girders and rivet guns, they were going depopulate this area. Swinging his mighty weapon around, he aimed a blow at the front of a building that said Cisko's Day Care.  
  
The blow never landed. A small figure had interposed itself in between it and day care center. Her hand grabbed the girder and pulled it out of Hax's hand.  
  
"What are you doing?" Maxim nee Meg Jones yelled at the boomer. She looked quite a bit different, not taller, but with the black wig and the uniform she looked much more dangerous.  
  
"All humans must be demolished! All humans must be killed! Kill all humans!" The large boomer yelled in an electronic squeal. One of the other boomers roared his approval and grabbed a hapless bystander. With a powerful throw, he threw the man at Maxim. She saw him at the last second and tried to slow him down, but there was a sickening snap of a sound and his head hung at an unusual angle.  
  
"I can't believe you just killed him." Maxim put the man down. Hax just looked at her strangely and then lashed out, striking her as hard as possible.  
  
"Die, human!" Hax yelled as he continued slamming her around six more times and finally punched her through a wall. The rubble was quiet for a moment and Hax started to turn around to continue his rampage.  
  
"My turn, 'boomer'!" Maxim yelled as she charged from the rubble. With a powerful punch, she dented his chest armor and then mashed his head.  
  
Spinning around, she saw a boomer with a rivet gun. It opened fire immediately, pelting her with rivets. Maxim raised her hands to cover her face and then zipped to the side, flickering fast. With a wrench, she picked up an empty car and tossed it at the boomer. It made a crunching sound and then the car exploded.  
  
The remaining boomers all charged Maxim and started to trade blows. She started to look the worse for wear, but one by one, boomers started to drop. Now it was a race to see who would drop first.  
  
Maxim wasn't sure she'd last. She was using her reserves far faster than she wanted to admit. Doggedly, she kept up the fight, trying to save as many lives as possible.  
  
-  
  
The ADP had finally shown up, the fast reaction copters getting there first. Looking down at the mess, the pilot was surprised to see the boomers clustered. Not looking for a second chance, he opened fire, pelting the entire area, finishing off the boomers in seconds.  
  
He radioed back to HQ, "All clear here, it was a turkey shoot. They were bunched up for some reason and I took them all out at one time." He then set his helicopter to patrol the area for any other boomers.  
  
-  
  
Leon jumped out of his patrol car and surveyed the area. Surprisingly, the damage was minimal. Casualties looked light too. "Hmm, looks like the paramedics get to do most of the work today."  
  
A cheer brought his attention to the pile of boomers, as a blood spattered figure pushed itself from the wreckage. A whole bunch of children from the daycare center were jumping up and down and yelling.  
  
Maxim waved and then looked around. "Damn, must have been out for a while." She carefully moved herself out of the area and then spotted Inspector McNicoll. She checked herself out, making sure she had healed up. She might have to fight or run. She didn't like fighting cops though, so she'd run. She felt incredibly weak. What had happened to her power?  
  
Leon walked up to her. "You saved a lot of lives from what I hear," Leon said as he leaned closer, "But you just can't bust out of the ADP. I'm going to have to take you back, until we can figure out what to do with you, Meg."  
  
"I don't like fighting cops, Inspector. I'm one of the good guys," Maxim responded.  
  
"Good. I've got that feeling. One minute to go twelve kilometers. That's pretty fast." Leon said, "Look, I can't let you go until you tell me where and who did this to you."  
  
"You won't believe me. If it makes you feel better, they can't do it anymore. They both died a long time ago," Maxim replied shortly, ducking her head. A long time ago, in another universe. "I'd be more worried with you bank robbers. He's from the same place I come from. And you don't have the ability to deal with him."  
  
"You know the robber?" Leon's face showed his surprise blatantly.  
  
"No, I know of the robber. He's a man who goes by the name of Polarion. Other than that, all I know is that he has a tendency to try to take over the world at the drop of a hat. It was during an attempt to stop him that got us both here. There was some sort of overload and then I woke up in a factory, with a lot of 'boomers' around. I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore, Toto," Maxim said with a chuckle.  
  
Leon missed the reference, but continued on, "So what can he do? And where are you from?"  
  
"Can you imagine someone who can control magnetism? Good, because that's his power. He was holding my Earth hostage, blanking out all electronics from working and any conventional troops from getting near. That's why the UN sent the Dragons in; we're a special force of super-humans. I guess we won, but Polarion and I got blown through some sort of dimensional rift," Maxim continued, pushing away a paramedic.  
  
"So he's going to do this again? And how do you know that he robbed the bank?" Daley asked.  
  
"Probably, he might try something else though. And if you check out the vault, which is about two miles to the south of the bank. It's in a warehouse. It's empty, so you're not going to find much, except that it's been treated to massive magnetic forces. There's a lot of metal debris attached to it." Maxim stopped and looked at the paramedic, "I'm fine thank you. I'm healed already." The paramedic backed away when Daley gave a hand signal.  
  
"Well that helps a bit, even though I don't believe you. It's too much like a bad episode of Star Trek," Leon said, leaning up against a car.  
  
"I think I'd better leave, Leon. Are you going to try and stop me?" Maxim asked.  
  
"Me, no. On the other hand, when my boss gets around to reading my report on why the containment room is broken, he's going to try. The laws pretty serious when it comes to genetic alteration," Leon replied. "I can't promise anything next time."  
  
"Well, I'll just have to work at not getting caught. Thanks guys," Maxim said as she started to run down the road and then jumped up to the freeway.  
  
"Some gal, huh Daley?" Leon said to his partner.  
  
"If you like girls. I'm more worried about if we are going to keep our badges after this fiasco." Daley adjusted his tie.  
  
"You too?" Leon chuckled.  
  
-  
  
Meg finished up her run in the bad section of town. It looked like some sort of earthquake had hit at some time in the past. This area hadn't been repaired and most of the places looked crummy.  
  
She zipped into an alley and then picked up some normal clothing that she'd secreted there earlier. She then compressed her costume into a tight compact baseball-sized package. Stuffing it into a purse she stepped out and walked over to her room. It wasn't much better than a roach hotel, but it gave herself a place to rest up.  
  
Meg thought to herself, that's got to be the worst day I've had since I gained my powers. I blow my secret identity and I don't even spot the bad guy. And then I get beat up and then shot by the police. I think I'll collapse for a few days and hope I can start to access the gravitons of this Earth and get recharged. Otherwise, I'm dead when I try to confront Polarion.  
  
She collapsed on her bed and didn't move. Sleep followed shortly.  
  
-  
  
Priss was happy, the owner of Hot Legs wasn't that upset about her canceling. He just gave her a warning and then asked if she was going to play tonight. Priss told him sure and she sang her heart out. It was one of her best performances that she'd done recently and she just wanted to relax. So she headed over to the bar.  
  
Priss looked around and noted that most of the people had left already. There was only a couple of people at tables and one person at the bar. That one was eating one of the cold sandwiches and some chips. Must be desperate for something to eat, Priss thought, if she came here.  
  
"Beer. Thanks," Priss asked and then exchanged money. She leaned back on the bar and sipped her beer.  
  
The girl at the bar suddenly tensed up and looked at the door. It opened and two bruisers walked in, both wearing suits and sunglasses. Priss studied them and decided they could be boomers.  
  
"Boomers. What are they doing here?" The blond girl asked, seemingly talking to herself.  
  
"Are you sure they are boomers?" Priss asked.  
  
The blonde jumped and looked over at Priss. Sizing her up, she replied, "Yes, I'm sure. They're noisy."  
  
The two seemed to scan a round and then spotted the blonde. "Looks like its time to go. I wonder who sent them? I don't need this. I'm famished," The girl said, grabbing her sandwich and then headed to the back exit. The boomers started to follow.  
  
"You know what, Will? I hate Genom. I hate boomers just as much," Priss said to the bartender. He just shrugged his shoulders. "I think I'll help that girl out. Give me five and call the AD Police."  
  
He nodded.  
  
Priss followed and pulled out her gun and started to assemble it. With practiced ease she brought it up as she slammed the door open that led to the alley. She scanned around and spotted the girl trotting along, with the boomers right behind.  
  
She yelled, "Hey, get down!" And opened fire putting as many shot as she could into one of the boomer's head. After emptying it twice into it, it finally fell down.  
  
The other boomer had shredded his human disguise and grabbed Meg. With what knowledge it had, it knew a simple toss wasn't going to hurt her. With inhuman strength, he tossed his missile at Priss. She barely avoided getting killed by the human missile. But it knocked the gun out of her hand and knocked her down.  
  
The boomer felt very confident as it walked over to take its prisoner. Priss scrambled for her gun and reached into her jacket for more rounds. The boomer grabbed her hand and gun and started to slowly squeeze. Priss's hand started to hurt and she couldn't break free. A gasp of pain escaped her lips. Then a bright burst of light flashed out and the boomer's arm fell off, sheared off at the elbow.  
  
Priss glanced over to the ground where the figure was standing up, eyes glowing blue, as another beam came out and struck the boomer in the head. With a shower of sparks, the boomer fell down.  
  
Meg collapsed right afterwards, the last blast leaving her too drained to even sit up.  
  
"What are you?" Priss yelled, as she finished loading her gun, now pointed at Meg. A low moan was the only thing that escaped her. "I guess you can't be too dangerous now." Priss relaxed.  
  
With a grunt of effort, Priss lifted her up. You're a lot heavier than you look, Priss thought. Probably a boomer. Thinking about it for a moment, she headed towards the front of Hot Legs and walked for a few blocks.  
  
She found the nearest motel and dragged the girl with her. The old man behind the counter looked up and said, "She all right? Her room is on the second floor. Room 29. You're a good person, young lady." He smiled broadly.  
  
Priss just looked at the guy and then replied, "Um, sure." Priss continued up the stairs, lugging the really heavy body behind her. What was the chance she'd pick the same place she stayed? Priss thought about it as she went up the stairs. Pretty good she thought, this is the closest place to Hot Legs.  
  
She slumped against the door and slid Meg's body to the ground. Priss searched for a moment and found the keys to the place in Meg's pocket. Opening the door, she saw a somewhat tidy room. Catching her breath, she dragged Meg in and put her in the bed. "Damn strange boomer. Wonder who's hunting you," Priss said to no one in particular.  
  
She sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. Something glinted in the light, catching her attention. It looked like a ballpoint pen, but it looked like it was made of gold. But who would make a ballpoint pen out of solid gold? She pocketed it on a hunch.  
  
Oh, well, I'd better go back to the Hot Legs and tell the AD Police about the boomers. At least some version of what happened.  
  
-  
  
Leon was thinking that night shifts have to stink. After finally getting onto days, the chief slams him with graveyard shit. And told in no uncertain terms to bring in that enhanced in a body bag. And now his heart was a shard of ice as he raced to Hot Legs. Priss sang there and if boomers where gunning for her, there aren't anyplace safe for her anymore. They would shoot her down like a dog.  
  
"Damn!" He yelled, as he screamed around the corner. Leon had nearly side swiped four cars as he drove over there. Daley just looked at Leon and thought, what a waste. Some people just don't have any priorities.  
  
Leon jumped out and ran to the scene pulling his gun. He got to the alley where gunshots had been reported, expecting to see bodies horribly mutilated. All he found were two boomers, one's head was a mass of twisted metal and the other was missing an arm.  
  
"Daley, you're not going to believe it. Somebody took out the trash already," Leon yelled out over his shoulder.  
  
"You're kidding, right?" Daley wasn't quite as fast as Leon, but he was no slouch. In good police practice, he checked around the corner before he walked up. "You're not kidding. Somebody has got a big gun."  
  
"Look at this. Laser? It looks a little funny though," Leon said as he kicked the one boomer's body. Its head had a hole clean through it.  
  
"That is odd. I didn't think there were any hand held laser guns that could punch through boomer armor," Daley said. Checking closer, the hole showed signs of being an impact point too. "I see what you mean though. Now where have we seen that before?" Daley muttered sarcastically.  
  
"The cameras in the 'observation' room. They were all busted up like this. Our laser, could it be the genetic anomaly?" Daley said, looking at Leon.  
  
Leon shrugged.  
  
Daley walked back and called off the backup and called for an evidence van to get the remains. As he's starting to talk to the dispatcher, he saw Leon's favorite singer walk over to the alley.  
  
"Hey, Leon! What are you doing here?" Priss said, leaning up against the wall.  
  
Leon jumped and then turned around. With a cry, he rushed over and picked her up. "You're all right. I was, um, worried," Leon said to her.  
  
Priss was speechless and finally replied, "I'm fine Leon, let me go!" She pushed him away too forcefully. Leon landed hard on his rear.  
  
Looking sheepish, Leon started to get up and Priss surprised him again, by offering her hand out to him and helping him up. "Um, sorry, I guess I got carried away there for a second," Leon said.  
  
"Uh, sure." Priss really didn't know what to make Leon's reaction. He acted like he thought she was in trouble or something.  
  
Leon became much more professional and started to grill her, "So what happened here? I can just guess you're the one who shot up the boomer."  
  
Priss gave Leon a long look and then replied, "Sure. I figured somebody was in trouble and needed some help. Thought I'd be a good Samaritan. Sorry officer. Guess I screwed up," Priss said with a grin. "I do have my license for my gun. Would you like to check it?"  
  
"Sure. So who destroyed the other one?" Leon said, looking closer Priss.  
  
"Just some strange boomer. Looked like a blond human female, shot blue beams out of her eyes. Didn't looks so hot as it ran off. It looked run down," Priss said, tilting her head.  
  
Leon asked again, "Did you see which way?" Leon watched her carefully, as she lied.  
  
"Nope, I was out of ammo and didn't want to wait around for more boomers to show up," Priss lied, "So I took off, fast as I could go." She gave her best winning smile.  
  
Leon accepted that, with a hard look. "OK, anything else to state? Just some rampaging boomers and then another boomer got involved?" Leon left an easy opening for her to just agree to his statement.  
  
"Uh, huh." Priss was starting to think that there was a little more going on here than she knew.  
  
Leon looked over his shoulder at the boomers and gave a military hand sign for somebody's listening. Priss started, but decided to play along. Leon seemed to be playing some sort of game close to his chest. "Now that we've got this unpleasantness out of the way, how about breakfast? I get off in an hour or so," Leon asked with a smile.  
  
Priss thought to herself, this better not be a trick to go on a date, "Sure. Meet at Usha's?" Priss asked.  
  
Daley walked up and asked, "Got all the answers? The report on this will take a while."  
  
Leon pointed his thumb at the boomers and replied, "She ID'd the target. She was here. We'll watch the area for a while and see if we can find her."  
  
Daley rubbed his chin and said finally, "We'll want to handle this ourselves. If the military is called in, we're going to have a lot of casualties. It's going to be a blood bath."  
  
Priss wanted to ask about this, but she decided to just leave while she could. "See you later, Leon," Priss said as she started to walk back into Hot Legs.  
  
-  
  
Priss waited and stirred her coffee. Looking up she saw Leon enter and look around carefully. There were only a few customers, all regulars of the early morning shift. He walked over and sat down. He took of his glasses and set them down.  
  
"So, big shot AD Police officer, long time no see," Priss said and casually checked the time on her watch. A small light flickered on and off very fast and pointed towards her right and forward about two feet. Glancing casually over at the only thing she could see that was that close was Leon's sunglasses.  
  
Leon just leaned forward and with a rueful look, spoke up. "I've got Internal Affairs investigating me. Talk about your pains."  
  
Priss spoke up quickly and pointed towards the sunglasses. "New shades?" Very casually she reached out and touched his hands and very carefully made the same sign for that he had earlier, signaling that somebody was listening in.  
  
Leon's face betrayed him for a second and then he replied, "Yeah, I just got them. Don't fit very well either." Casually, he reached over and broke the sunglasses and went and tossed it into the farthest garbage outside.  
  
Leon returned and just looked at Priss with questioning look. Priss nodded and then said, "So, your bugged and being followed. Life must suck."  
  
Leon looked at her odd and then said, "Must be nice to have the neat toys. I can't believe they put a bug on me though. Officer Giles must really want Nene."  
  
Priss laughed for a second and then replied casually. "Nene who? What did she do?" Priss hid her surprise very well. Her life depended on it.  
  
"Come on blue, you know me better than that. I've known for quite a while," Leon said, as he checked over the menu.  
  
Priss just stared at him. "Why did you call me 'blue'?"  
  
"Do I have to spell out DD Battlemover and vampire boomers? Though I have to admit, that was the stupidest thing I ever did. Going out there in a K- 12 hardsuit and almost getting killed. I did manage to wake up for a while though. Enough to see you without your helmet." Leon stared intently at Priss as he finished.  
  
Priss finally picked up her menu and started to look over the menu. "Okay. What's your angle?" She tapped in her order on her screen.  
  
"Angle? Um, nothing. I'm just trying to be careful," Leon said as decided what he wanted. "Speaking of being careful, you need to watch out for that 'boomer'. The government is going after her. She's the most wanted person in Japan right now. She's got the DIET spooked. They are talking about doing an air strike on the area of town that she's in." He tapped in his order on his screen.  
  
"All that for a boomer? Sheesh."  
  
"She's not a boomer. She's some sort of genetic aberration. Like those clones from the Middle East conflict. The ones that nearly conquered the entire Middle East, with an army of 5,000 soldiers. The same ones who thought it was their destiny to rule the world. Nice thirteen year olds." Leon said, "Except she's physically more powerful. She punched her way through a door that would have taken a combat boomer an hour to get through."  
  
Priss looked up at him in surprise. "Really?"  
  
"Look, I'm just a bit worried about you. You always charge in guns blazing. Your not immortal you know." Abruptly changing the subject, he asked, "How's Nene?"  
  
"Nene? She's... taking it hard. Genom killed her parents. Just to get at her. She's not as cheerful as she used to be," Priss said quietly.  
  
"She's tougher then she looks. At least she's alive." He started to continue, but just stopped. They were quiet for a moment. "Any proof that Genom killed them?"  
  
"No. Nothing admissible. Just dead bodies. It's like they were sending a message."  
  
"Well, now what?" Leon asked  
  
"Well, we could get our breakfast and then maybe we could continue our conversation at my place." Priss smiled. "It should be bug free."  
  
"Sure, whatever you want to do." Leon smiled back.  
  
-  
  
Meg finally woke up and looked around. It looked to be daylight outside. There was a note and a phone number. Meg stretched and realized she felt much better. Not up to full strength, but finally starting to recover. Very, very hungry though.  
  
"Who's Priss?" Meg thought hard about it for a second, remembering the lady with the overly large gun and the boomer's attack. She didn't remember anything after that. "Must be the lady from last night." She read the note.  
  
If you have a problem with Genom, I can help. Give me a call at 5252-3421- 34221.  
  
Priss  
  
"Hmm, I could use a friend right now," Meg said to herself. "I'll give her a call." Thinking to herself, she hoped that this Priss wasn't trying to use her or that it was a trap.  
  
-  
  
Nene was bored. No, scratch that. Nene was incredibly bored. Several days of forced hiding or working at the Silky Doll were starting to wear her down. She stood by the cash register and waited for a customer to show up. She stifled a yawn. She spotted herself in the mirror. Her hand went to her hair, which was still a dark black.  
  
"I hate black," Nene said to herself and then replied to herself. "But I hate being dead more." It seemed fairly redundant to have her here anyway. There were two employees on shift at any times. Nene was now the third.  
  
Mari walked over to Nene and said to Nene, "Sylia wants to talk to you, Shawna. She's upstairs." Nene's face brightened immediately and she almost sprinted upstairs. Mari just shook her head, thinking that she had to be insane to want to go and see the 'Ice Lady'.  
  
Nene burst into Sylia's office and said, "Thank god, I thought I was going to go insane. Please say you have something for me. Something real any ways." Sylia looked much better, the only sign that she had been banged up was the sling her arm was in.  
  
Sylia smiled and replied, "Actually, I was going to have you do some hacking and information gathering. I need to dig up some information about transmuting matter."  
  
Nene just looked at Sylia for a second and started laughing. "Transmuting matter? You're joking right?" Nene stopped laughing. Sylia never really jokes, Nene thought.  
  
"No. Look at this." Sylia handed Nene a strangely colored pen. "This was plastic, now it's 24 carrot gold. It's purer than samples used in laboratories."  
  
"Where did you get this?" Nene asked. Nene's curiosity was evident on her face.  
  
"Priss gave it to me yesterday. I just finished checking it out. It has some odd radiation on it, nothing dangerous," Sylia said calmly, only smiling a little when Nene almost dropped the pen at the mention of radiation.  
  
"Uh, how did Priss get it?" Nene asked.  
  
"She said she acquired it from someone about a week ago. Genom covert boomers were hunting the person. She didn't look hurt, but she's been unconscious for most of the week. Priss has been checking on her and paying the rent at the place she is hiding in," Sylia responded. Her fingers were tapping on the desk. "Genom is looking for somebody, but not much in the specifics. It matches the description that Priss gave me. I concurred with her choice not to let anyone else near it, in case it's a trap or an infiltration plot. But if I suspicions are right, she could be the most important person in MegaTokyo. The DIET is all worked up over her too."  
  
"Well, I was going to go over to Linna's later, but I can find your information too. Anything else?" Nene was almost back to her cheerful self it seemed.  
  
-  
  
Linna lay in the warm waters, crying softly. Her self-loathing had finally overcome her. She had tried to make it up to Nene, bringing her treats and visiting often. Nene attached herself to Linna and had become just about inseparable.  
  
She just couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted to scream at Nene and say, "How can you trust me? I was going to kill you. And now you're trusting me!" She let everyone down. Sylia was hurt, Nene's parent were kidnapped and then killed and now, now she didn't want to hurt anyone close to herself.  
  
The red in the water clouded and spun. Linna started to feel lightheaded. She didn't even hear the pounding and then the outer door opening. She barely heard the scream and then the trotting over to the phone as Nene dialed the emergency number for an ambulance, babbling hysterically.  
  
Nene pulled some belts tight around Linna's upper arms, in a make shift tourniquet, trying to staunch the flow of blood. She then carefully drained the water and then wrapped her in a towel and then hugged Linna tightly to her.  
  
The N-Police and the medics showed up and quickly got to work. It would be very close, but they could save her. As with many people, she only had friends, with no relatives. "Don't worry miss, we got here just in time. Can you come with her to the hospital?" one of the officers asked. Nene nodded.  
  
"Can I make a phone call first? Thanks," Nene said, as the officer nodded back.  
  
Nene dialed the Silky Doll from Linna's. One of the clerks answered cheerfully. "Silky Doll, how may I help you?" Mari said into the phone.  
  
"This is Shawna, I need you to take a message to Sylia. It's an emergency, Linna's going to the hospital. I think its Central Crown. Can you make sure she gets it? Thanks!" Nene blubbered, as she rushed out to get into the back of the ambulance, locking the door behind her.  
  
Mari just shook her head and then called upstairs. "Sylia, Shawna just called. Someone named, um, Linda or Linna, is on the way to Central Crown hospital and she wanted you to know. Will you be leaving for the rest of the day?"  
  
Sylia responded, "Yes. I'll be going down town. Thank you." Sylia quickly dialed a number and then left a page for Priss. "Hopefully, she'll call back quickly."  
  
-  
  
A phone started to ring, startling Priss as she finished her lunch. She reached over and picked it up. "Hello. This is Priss. Oh, yes, I remember you." Priss paused, listening to the other side. "Just want someone to talk too? Sure, Yono's Sushi bar sounds fine. I'll be there in about twenty minutes."  
  
Priss grabbed her jacket and then pulled it on, checking her ammunition for her gun and then running outside. She hopped on her bike and jammed on her helmet. Starting up her bike, she backed it out and then pulled out fast. But then again, fast should be Priss's middle name.  
  
About fifteen minutes latter, she pulled up to Yono's. Walking up to Yono's, she saw a figure wearing a large blue leather jacket and a bandana. Stylish shades filled out the outfit with jeans and biker boots. She waved to Priss and walked closer.  
  
"Hello! My name is Meg Jones," Meg said to the stranger. She looked her up and down and then checked for weapons. Only the gun, broken down into pieces.  
  
"Call me Priss. You looked like you could use a friend." Priss looked around and couldn't spot anybody watching.  
  
"Sorry if I'm a bit rude, but I'm starving. That's why I was at the Hot Legs. It was the only thing open at the time close by," Meg said, opening the door and waiting for Priss to enter. She followed and they both got ushered in to a booth.  
  
Meg looked at the menu a moment, letting the translator do it's work. She ordered something that was filling. Changing her mind, she double ordered it.  
  
Priss just studied her for a moment and then ordered a drink. "You're not kidding, you ordering like your starved or something."  
  
"It feels like it. I can't thank you enough for what you did. Do you always go out of your way to help strangers?" Meg asked Priss.  
  
"Only ones who have problems with Genom. I not a big fan of Genom or their corporate tactics," Priss replied. "So what problem do you have with them? Runaway or something?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, no, I don't know why they are after me. I haven't done anything to make an enemy of them as far as I know. I'm a bit unusual, but I've only been in town for about a week," Meg answered, sipping her soda.  
  
"I found some gold trinkets at your place and I figured that you would rather have cash," Priss said as she pulled out a large roll of bills. "It's a little harder to track you that way."  
  
Meg just looked for a moment at the bills and then said, "Um, thanks, I'd been meaning to do that with what I had left. I just didn't know who to talk to." She scooped up the money and pocketed it.  
  
Priss looked at Meg closely and then asked, "Is this an act? You didn't move or breathe for over a week and now you're acting like you're starved. And you look and act like you're seventeen or eighteen."  
  
Meg stopped sipping her drink and replied slowly, "A week? Um, no wonder I'm hungry." Pausing for a second, she continued, "It's not an act. I don't need to breathe. I do need to eat and well, I'm seventeen," she said defensively. She wondered if this was some sort of trap. She took another drink of her soda.  
  
"And you're only a bit unusual? On what scale?" Priss asked, realizing that she was looking into the business end of two very powerful laser cannons. They looked like blue eyes, but she remembered what they did to the boomer. Spooky.  
  
"Where I'm from? Pretty normal. Here I'd classify myself on the same scale as alien abductions and magic, on the pretty strange scale." Meg thought that really didn't do justice to what had happened. "Heck, I don't even speak Japanese. I've got a little gizmo that can translate just about everything. Handy when you end up in strange areas." Tapping the side of her head, right behind her left ear.  
  
"So where are you from?"  
  
"Would you believe another Earth?" Meg smiled cautiously. "All I really want to do is go home." She paused a moment. "So you hate Genom, huh?"  
  
"They killed my boyfriend several years ago and they step on the rights of the little people. I try to write songs that make people think about what they do. They're pretty nasty, but the world wouldn't run if they weren't around," Priss replied, pain in her voice. She'd almost forgot the pain there for a while. "So I do what I can and try to help where I can."  
  
Meg continued to wolf down her food. "I'm sorry. It sounds like they need to be taken care of. At least the people in charge." She smiled all of a sudden and then asked Priss, "Do you want to go shopping?"  
  
Priss started to answer and then double-checked her watch that had just started to buzz. "Can I take a rain check? I just got paged, so I've got to leave." Priss looked at Meg for just a moment, "How about tomorrow? I'll meet you out front of your motel and we'll go to the Mall."  
  
"Sure!" Meg beamed. "You don't have to wait for me. I'll be fine."  
  
"So long!" Priss called as she walked out and rocked her bike forward. She jammed her helmet on and roared off. It was odd that Sylia would call an emergency meeting during the day. It was better than later tonight, though. She had another gig and a date with Leon. Now that was an odd thing, especially after how long she had been giving him a hard time.  
  
-  
  
Priss and Sylia got into Sylia's BMW and Sylia started to drive efficiently through traffic, Priss sitting in the passenger side. "Do we know what happened?" Priss finally asked.  
  
Sylia sighed and answered, "No. I hope she didn't do anything rash. Has she said or done anything unusual?"  
  
Priss sighed and then replied. "Linna took it pretty hard when you were hurt. Since then she's been sad or downright depressed."  
  
Sylia sat and thought, reviewing the last week or so and then finally spoke up as they pulled into Central Crown Hospital parking garage. "She might have thought that I was sanctioning Nene. If she's been tearing herself up about it, she might have gotten suicidal again. It is part of her psychological make up, unfortunately. She has a low self esteem."  
  
Priss was surprised about that. Linna always seemed so self-assured. "When was she suicidal?"  
  
"When Irene was killed. The only reason she pulled through that was because of Reika. She saw how self-destructive she was being," Sylia answered matter of factly. "She channels her anger against herself, unfortunately. I guess she isn't much like you, Priss. Your vent you aggression on the world."  
  
"Keep your psycho-analyzing to yourself, Sylia. I don't want you messing with my head," Priss said between clenched teeth. In an amazing show of self-control, Priss sat there and didn't do anything more.  
  
"I... I'm not trying to control you, Priss. I'm trying to come clean with you. Your past and your pain is too much a part of you. If I did take that away from you, you wouldn't be Priss." Sylia's voice was steady and calm.  
  
Priss watched Sylia for a moment and then finally replied. "You were a lot easier to deal with when you had your Ice Queen mask on, you know that?" Sighing, she continued, "But I'd rather have a friend than a heartless boss. Give us some time to adjust to it, ok?"  
  
Sylia smiled and said, "I'll try. This is all a bit new to me too. We are here," Sylia said as she pulled into a parking stall. Both of them got out and walked quickly into the hospital. Checking in at the front desk they continued up to a private room. Inside they saw Nene looking disheartened as she held Linna's hand.  
  
Looking up, she forced a smile. "I don't know why she did this. It hasn't been that bad has it?" Nene looked to Sylia to answer her questions.  
  
"I can't be certain, but she can be moody in her own ways. She was starting to make good money at that stock brokerage. And then when the Illegal Army showed up, she tried to play a bit of inside marketing. She lost a lot of people a lot of money. She probably won't ever get into that sort of position again. Which is sad, she was very good at it." Sylia walked over and lightly squeezed Nene's shoulder. "She bottles up her problems, Ne... Shawna. We just have to be there for her."  
  
A doctor walked in at that point and looked around. "Which of your is considered family for Miss Yamazaki?"  
  
"That would be me. This young lady also," Sylia replied, as she nodded to Priss. For some reason that surprised Nene.  
  
"I've gotten your request and I'm not sure it is a wise idea to move her at this point. She's still suicidal and she can be watched here. We have a computer that monitors each of these rooms. It reacts to any attempt by her to commit suicide again and alerts the nurse." The doctor continued, not noticing the startled expressions on the conscious young ladies.  
  
All of the Knight Sabers were thinking fast and furious. After a few moments of concentration, they all relaxed. Nothing incriminating had been talked about since they arrived. "Really, doctor, I have a very comfortable clinic that she can go to and the best private physicians on staff. I think it would be best if we put her in a more familiar setting. I will, of course, see to it that she has the best psychiatric help."  
  
"I can't stop you, Miss Stingray. She should be able to leave tomorrow morning. But I will write my recommendations, for the records." The doctor handed some forms for Sylia to fill out.  
  
-  
  
Naoko finished up her work and said to her new friend, "I'm off, all right Deirdre? See you tomorrow, when we start working on the communications system." Deirdre nodded, mumbling something incoherently. Naoko just shook her head. She couldn't believe how much her own workload had increased since Nene's departure. Her respect for Nene was just increasing. Not only was she doing a full time job, but she was out there fighting boomers too. Like saving the ADP building. Naoko knew that Nene was fiercely loyal to the quasi-military organization.  
  
Oh, well, that's the past. Time to go home and take a nice long shower. Naoko waved to the front desk and walked out to the parking garage. She unlocked her car door and stepped in. She started it up and looked over her shoulder to back it out. She quietly drove the car out and onto the road. Her vision started to blur and she passed out. A hidden AI noted her collapse and took over driving. It also tinted the windows, changing the direction the car was headed. It headed onto the freeway and drove towards the main Genom tower. The sun was just setting.  
  
-  
  
Daley leaned back in the seat of Leon's road chaser. "So how's Priss tonight?" Daley asked Leon.  
  
"She's all right. One of her friends is in the hospital and then she's got a gig tonight. I'm going to see about getting off early tonight and watching the show. Do you want to tag along?" Leon replied.  
  
"And get in the way of you two love birds? I think I'd rather go wallow in my misery," Daley replied back in mock sadness.  
  
"Yeah, right. So don't you have a date tonight?" Leon said, as he maneuvered the car off of the freeway.  
  
"Of course! We just wish for a more, how do I say this, classy venue. Nathan is like that," Daley said. The car pulled up to machine fabrication shop. "So, this is just a normal boomer psychosis case? Except for the fact that the boomer only hurt one man and then was disassembled by the human workers?"  
  
"Yeah, it's a bit strange. So, SOP?" Leon asked as he exited the car, Daley following suit.  
  
A beam of energy hit Leon's road chaser from out of nowhere, burning instantly through it's armor and igniting the fuel. Both Leon and Daley were thrown meters by the car's explosion. Leon rolled with it as better than Daley.  
  
A massive crunching sound came from the direction of the car, as a large figure half landed on it. Flames licked around the boomer. Sensors focused on both of the officers and directed it to terminate Leon first. Leon had managed to get into a crouch and look at the sound. His glasses had been lost and his eyes were wide as he focused on the one of the most dangerous combat boomers on the planet, the Bu-12b. It was a large combat boomer, built over two and a half meters of pure destruction. It was a model that didn't even try to pretend that it was human.  
  
"Oh, fuck." He feinted right and then went left. It opened fire just barely to his right. He reached underneath his jacket and pulled out his gun. He had only one idea on how to take one of these things out with what he had. He charged the boomer, which confused it for a moment. In that instant he got himself close in by ducking underneath the auto-cannon and pushed the gun right up to the lightly armored neck. Praying for all he was worth, he pulled the trigger three times, trying to angle his shots into it's brain. Ducking again, he spun under it again and got frantically away from the burning car. His pants had already caught on fire. Rolling on the ground to try and confuse the boomer, Leon frantically tried to reload his earth- shaker. Rolling onto his back, he pointed the gun at the boomer.  
  
He didn't need to. It landed with a crash and was still. Off in the distance, sirens could be heard. Leon finished putting himself out and then hobbled over to Daley. He looked to be in a bad way. Leon reached into his jacket and pulled out a cellular phone and called into the ADP. "This is Leon, I've got an officer down. We are in front of the Totally Turbine manufacturing plant, on Waska and Mashu. I'm going to attempt to administer first aid." Leon tried to stop his hands from shaking, as he tried to keep one of his best friends alive. Off in the distance, sirens started to wail.  
  
-  
  
Another boomer followed its programming. The sun was only setting here in Germany, but that just livened things on the autobahn. Its target was just ahead, on a sleek custom motorcycle. The boomer was driving a Porsche. For just a few minutes, this area of the freeway was empty of all vehicles except for the motorcycle and the sports car. The super chargers whined and then kicked in the full power of the engine.  
  
The black car zoomed forward, striking the back of the motorcycle. The motorcycle's front tire was lifted off of the ground and the passenger was thrown from the back of the bike. Mackie reacted as best as possible and grabbed the side mirror of the car that had just struck him. It held for a moment. Mackie's bike was destroyed, sliding underneath his feat.  
  
And then the mirror snapped off and Mackie went crashing into the ground at over a hundred kilometers an hour. The boomer checked its rear view mirror and then drove off. It would be picked up shortly and this car would cease to exist.  
  
Mackie raised himself up to his hands and knees. "Ow. I'm glad I've got the money to afford for the impact jacket and pants." That was the last thing to go through Mackie's thoughts before he collapsed.  
  
-  
  
While walking near a small Shinto shrine in a small suburb, a group of three girls talked animatedly about graduating and what had been going on in their lives. They never saw the car swerve and bounce over the curb. It struck all three of them, killing two instantly. The third girl was rushed to the hospital, a victim of a drunk driver. Or so it would seem.  
  
-  
  
Matio Dansk sat in his new office in the Genom tower. He sat brooding in front of his monitor. He was on the fast track to power now. Quincy hated the Knight Sabers. Anyone who destroyed them would be in favor with him. You had to be careful though, to not go over the line or to get killed by the Knight Saber if they figured you out. Like they had Brian Mason.  
  
It was a boon to Matio. Nene Romanov had humiliated him and he aimed to finish the job he started. Internal Affairs of the ADP was going to investigate him for alleged misconduct. Matio laughed long and hard. Those fools in the ADP were looking like the idiots they were. "I will take everything you care for and then crush you and your comrades. The Knight Sabers are history, they just don't know it yet," Matio Dansk said loudly to the empty room.  
  
He never realized that he was but a cats paw in a very deadly game. Hidden cameras watched him, watched him and waited.  
  
-  
  
Priss charged into MegaTokyo General Hospital. She looked around and saw Leon, looking a little worse for wear, sitting and having a cut on his face checked.  
  
She walked over and almost made it to him. An ADP Officer stepped in her way and spoke up, "I'm sorry ma'am, but this official ADP business. You'll have to wait for the doctor over there." Officer Giles waited for her to comply and his face showed his surprise when she got in his face.  
  
"I'm not here to see the doctor. I'm here to see Leon. So if you don't mind officer, I'm going to go and check on him. Or do you have a problem with that," Priss quietly roared into his face.  
  
"It's all right, Giles. She's here to see me." Leon leaned a bit to the left to make himself heard. The doctor instructed him to hold a bandage for a moment and then she taped it down.  
  
"So Leon, what happened?" Priss asked.  
  
"Oh, not too much. I must have upset somebody up at the tower. So they sent a boomer to kill me and Daley. Typical stuff." Leon tried to make it sound better than it was.  
  
"That's all, huh? Well, when you can treat me like an adult, you can call me. I don't need your bull shit, Leon." Priss said, as she turned around and walked out. Leon started to get up woozily, but the doctor put a hand on his shoulder and kept him from getting up.  
  
Priss ran angrily back to her bike and jumped on. Damn you, Leon. This isn't some sort of game. I don't need protecting or coddling. As she roared away, she didn't realize the real reason she was so upset was because she had been scared. She hadn't known what to do when he had called to say he was at the hospital. And that wasn't something she was used to.  
  
-  
  
Katherine sipped her drink and turned to her computer that was on top of the small table next to where she lay. The sun was brightly shining as sunlight and sparkles glinted off of the nearby seashore. Katherine was wearing jeans and a casual button up shirt.  
  
Reading quickly, she smiled and laughed. Oh, the poor fool. He doesn't realize it yet, but he's the sacrificial lamb, being led to the slaughter. He disrupted her carefully planned observation. Ah, well. He still has uses, for a short while. But now, she couldn't watch Nene's old friends. Even that pen pal from Germany.  
  
"My, my, you've been busy last night. Such disregard for life. I'll have to make sure you don't get away clean with such an outrage. Genom has an image to maintain, after all," Katherine said, as she started her weekend. A boomer bodyguard walked in the back ground, circling the pool and continuing to scan the area. "Still, I can use this to my advantage. Silly Matio, thinking that he can play in the big leagues. Corporate politics can be quite deadly, don't you know?"  
  
Katherine thought for a moment and then laughed as she read about how Matio had gathered his information. "Oh, how choice. I wonder how much more anguish the poor dear can take." After all, it was the destruction of their spirit that Madigan was after. It wouldn't be that hard to physically kill them. They were just human; she had an almost unlimited supply of boomers.  
  
But she wasn't finished toying with her pets. And wouldn't be for a long time. Sending the lead Knight Saber to jail for killing the previous special assistant would be fun too. Ah, the things one does to stave off boredom when you have real power. But she wouldn't fall prey to problems that Mason had. She wasn't going to be the one holding the gun and all of the evidence pointing towards her. She was going to make Genom the most powerful entity on the planet. And nothing was going to stop her. When Quincy finally died, she would become the most powerful person in Genom.  
  
-  
  
Whistling while you work, just doesn't work well in space, Maxim grinned to herself. The silence is deafening. Only one more asteroids to 'bump' around and make sure it isn't going go anywhere near Earth. How can people live without an adequate impact warning or defenses? Those particle beam cannons in orbit may cut up an asteroid, but that doesn't do anything for its mass. All they would do is just flash the outer surface of the asteroid.  
  
Maxim flashed through space and ended up near Juno. Juno might be just an overly large chunk of angular rock, but if it ended up anywhere near Earth, it would kill ninety percent of all life in the first day. And then work on that last ten percent for the next decade. It was the biggest that she was concerned about, being about two hundred and forty kilometers at its biggest diameter. She had spotted it accelerating and decided to stop on by and check it out.  
  
"Warning, you are entering restricted air space. Warning, you are entering restricted air space," a cold voice transmitted itself through the void to her. Maxim searched the area and spotted what appeared to be a large ramshackle group of metal buildings and engines. They seemed to be blasting their rockets to move the rock slowly from its normal place.  
  
"Now that's one way of mining. Bring the rock to you," Maxim transmitted cheerfully back to the engine.  
  
All of a sudden, dozens of large boomers blossomed out of the buildings, circling fast. Maxim stared for a moment and tried to keep track of them. All of them were identical and barely looked like robots or androids. Large engines were in place of legs, but they each had a vaguely humanoid torso, head and arms. Cradled in right arm was a large cannon. Coded transmissions bounced in between them, as they choreographed their dance of death. Particle beams struck Maxim from all sides and the boomers circled their prey. She spun slowly in zero-g, tumbling helplessly. Maxim continued to spin softly, hoping that playing possum she would learn more. Unfortunately the boomers, not programmed for melodramatics, merely went back to their launch bays to wait.  
  
Maxim continued to watch and eventually tired of waiting for something to happen. Looking closely at the buildings that comprised the rocket, she mentally figured how fast it could be pushed and in which direction. She didn't like what she was coming up with. An Ion drive was very efficient and the speeds she was calculating, there wouldn't be life left on Earth if that thing was headed there. The course and speed could use the Sun as a slingshot and make it very hard to spot when it came around. At very nasty speeds.  
  
"I think it's time to have a chat with who ever is in charge of space exploration and development," Maxim thought to herself, stopping her spin with a thought. She rocketed away from the asteroid and focused intently on warping space around her. The stars blurred around her and she felt, not saw, the intense gravity of the Earth and the Moon as she neared them. Moments later she slowed to a crawl and scanned orbit. She spotted what she was looking for after a few minutes. It was a large space station, the letters USSD where imprinted boldly on the side of it.  
  
Maxim flashed up to the airlock and cycled the air lock. Floating in, she closed the door behind her and started to knock on the door. Reaching over, she cycled the airlock to get some air. For the first time in hours she truly heard again. It was almost deafening. Artificial spin gravity helped her land, her boots clicking on the floor as she stopped.  
  
A couple of guards down near the airlock turned as they heard a strange knocking sound coming from the primary airlock. Their communicators went off at about the same time. "Sergeant Simms, we just had an airlock sensor malfunction. Go down and check if we've got a leak or just a sensor malfunction. Out," Tactical Ops came on the communicator and said.  
  
Simms looked over at his friend and then replied, "Tactical, we've got a knocking sound coming from the airlock. We may not have a sensor problem. Send down backup. We are investigating. Out." The other guard nodded and pulled out his anti-personnel weapon. They walked down and Simms approached the airlock, with Hans covering him.  
  
"Tactical, I have confirmed there is someone in the airlock. She's knocking and looks to want to come on board. One female Caucasian, wearing a full body suit and mask. She is not in a spacesuit," Simms said. "Waiting for orders. Out."  
  
"Backup is on the way. Colonial Myers will take charge when he arrives. Out," Simms replied to the affirmative and waited only a few minutes. Colonial Myers showed up shortly with more troops and one of the new armored spacesuits.  
  
Myers looked over the troops as the dispersed to cover the door. "On my command, open the door. Do not shoot until I give the order." The affirmative was answered back by all of the troops. "Open the door."  
  
A familiar figure stood casually, waiting for them. "Hello. My name is Maxim and I need to speak to your commanding officer. I have spotted a possible danger to Earth."  
  
"What sort of attack would require you to enter into restricted UN space," Colonial Myers said tensely. "How did you get access to this satellite without setting off alarms? And why shouldn't you just be shot, young lady?"  
  
"A one hundred and fifty mile wide rock that may be aimed at the Earth. That kind of threat, Sir," Maxim said gravely. "And how is not as important and I think that sort of danger needs to be addressed right now, don't you?"  
  
"We have ways of handling this sort of threat. We may have these weapons for use against enemies on Earth, but they will stop any asteroid," Colonial Myers said.  
  
"Even ones that are guided by intelligence? Even one that will only be in range of plasma weapons for only twelve minutes. After you had spotted it?" Maxim shot right back. "Someone has attached an Ion drive the size of a small town to the asteroid Juno. I thought when I first saw it that it might have been just a mining operation, but you don't need to get an asteroid to go that fast."  
  
"We can verify your 'threat' easily enough 'Maxim'. Tactical, plot the location and trajectory of the asteroid known as 'Juno'," Colonial Myers spoke into his communicator. Everyone waited tensely for the response, fingers on their triggers. Colonial Myers listened to a response and then spoke to Maxim.  
  
"I don't know what kind of joke you were trying to pull young lady, but it just landed you in prison. Take her to the brig and stand down," Colonial Myers said in disgust as he turned around.  
  
Maxim just stood there for a moment, staring in shock. A glance through the walls and focusing on the asteroid, showed her the engine pushing slowly towards Earth. It wouldn't be here for over a year, at least. But it was thousands of miles from where it should have been. "Colonial, your instruments must be wrong. The threat is very real."  
  
Glancing over his shoulder, Colonial Myers responded, "Get your lies straight next time, 'Maxim'. I've already given you your chance. Your story doesn't add up."  
  
"Or you're being lied to. But I can see that I'm not going to convince you of that," Maxim said. Looking over the soldiers, she got a gleam in her eyes. "So how about an eye witness? One that you trust?"  
  
And with that she struck. Picking up two soldiers, she easily man handled them into the air and then threw them with stunning force at the rest of the soldiers. She then blurred out of the way of flechette rounds and reached her true target. A grab and she was back in the airlock with the space armored soldier. Shielding him from stray rounds, she closed the air lock and started the cycle to expel them into space.  
  
Math wasn't going to be taken that easy. Using his suits advanced musculature, he grabbed Maxim and then slammed her into the inner airlock. He was shocked when his HUD started showing red, as the smaller figure pushed against him. She broke his grasp and went back to the controls. "Damn, they locked me out of the controls."  
  
Math pointed his tactical rail gun at her and yelled, "Possible breach, Sir. I'm firing my rail gun inside the station. Target is a disguised boomer." He then fired three quick shots. That imbedded themselves into her chest. The shots didn't go through her like paper.  
  
"Ow," Maxim managed to gasp. Damn, that suit is tough and packs a wallop. I'm holding back too much. A quick glance to show that the airlock controls were still locked and then a look of grim determination came across her face. Again she moved and at the last minute focused her ability to create 'non-real' mass. The outer airlock was hit with the force of a small mountain and exploded into small splinters that shot into space. More rail gun rounds hit her in the back, as Maxim turned and grabbed the armored soldier. With a wrench, she pushed them both out into the dark reaches of space. Once they were clear of the space station, she started flying faster, going slow enough not to kill the man in the suit.  
  
Math started to panic, "Mayday, Mayday, I am being dragged into orbit. Mayday, Mayday, I am need of immediate rescue. This suit has minimal EVA capability." Math tried to calm down; he was actually starting to succeed when he saw the Moon and the Earth recede into the distance. "Oh, my god! We're already out past the Moon." The crushing acceleration eased up and then the sky flashed into a rainbow of colors.  
  
Tactical Operation officers for the space station Victory stared in shock at the vector and speed of the radio transmission. The last transmission brought a startled exclamation from the staff. Admiral Harrison looked over them and the said, "Get me everything there is to know about a woman named 'Maxim' and verify where that transmission disappeared. And why. I want answers gentlemen. And I want them yesterday."  
  
-  
  
Math stared for the few moments he was in hyper-space and then relaxed once they burst out into real space. Maxim let him go and then pointed towards his right arm and shook her head. Math thought about it for a moment and then realized she was telling him to not shoot the rail gun. He nodded and agreed silently to himself that shooting his ticket home was not a good idea.  
  
Maxim gritted her teeth and then started to yank the rail rounds out of her chest. She then turned her back to the soldier and pointed at the rounds in her back. Math hesitated and then realized he really had few options. Grabbing her shoulder with a tight grip, he proceeded to pull out the rail rounds. He stared in surprise as he watched the wounds visibly heal in front of his eyes.  
  
Maxim floated around and then tapped the small control on his left arm and started to mess with his onboard radio. "Is that better? I can't transmit very well. The translator wasn't really built for outer space," Maxim transmitted to the soldier.  
  
Math sat there for a moment and then answered as trained. "Matthew Timothy, Captain, USSD, X111-234"  
  
Maxim just stared in surprise and then doubled up in laughter. She just couldn't stop laughing. She was finally brought out of it by her 'prisoner.'  
  
"What is so funny?" Math said, a look of irritation sweeping his face.  
  
"Sorry, but I didn't kidnap you. Well, I did, but I'm going to send you home as soon as you see that." Maxim pointed over his shoulder.  
  
Math carefully glanced over his shoulder and then replied. "You dragged me out here to look at a rock in space?"  
  
"Look carefully, at the bottom. What does that look like?" Maxim told him.  
  
"It looks like an Ion drive. The setup looks like something I've seen before actually." Math thought for a moment. "The Genom deep space mining project. It was lost about six months ago, as it was about to be tested out in the asteroid belt." It looked bigger actually. And he didn't see the vector controls for turning the rock at apogee. Maybe they were going to build those later. But that's kind of a big if.  
  
"Seen enough?" Maxim looked for the nod.  
  
All of a sudden, radar blips appeared at long range. "We need to leave, now! We have over two dozen incoming attackers. They'll be in range in... oof." Math managed to get out before being grabbed by Maxim and accelerating out of there. In a burst of energy, they disappeared into the starry sky.  
  
-  
  
"Well, does anyone have anything to report on our thief?" Admiral Harrison said to all of his senior officers.  
  
"We have a dossier of some sort of clone or genetic experiment from MegaTokyo. We think this might be her, out of the mask." A thin reedy man touched a button, displaying a picture of Meg Jones. "The DIET wants to neutralize her fast, but hasn't had much luck finding her."  
  
"The police report states that she hasn't attacked cops and was willing to put herself on the line to save kids," another man spoke up. "None of these reports show this extensive of abilities or powers."  
  
"So what does this mean?" Admiral Harrison asked them all.  
  
"It might be worth checking out this story. We do depend on computers to show us what is out there. Computers can be compromised. I'd recommend that we check the position of that asteroid manually."  
  
The last man at the table spoke up. "I'd say she has a deep respect for life. She was willing to put herself in the way to keep Captain Timothy from getting shot by our own men. Even I could see that from the video footage."  
  
"I don't need to tell you that the loss of that hardsuit could be disastrous?" Nods of agreement. "Good, the information for them was not easy to get and wasn't complete. It still put our suit a full generation ahead of the competition." And we are still behind the originals he thought to himself.  
  
"Admiral Sir! We've picked up the transponder of Captain Timothy's hardsuit. It's coming in hard and fast. Its deceleration curve is just as extreme as before. What are your orders, Sir?" A technician said over his shoulder.  
  
The Admiral sat for just a moment and then responded. "Let her board and brought immediately to me. If Captain Timothy is well, have him accompany her."  
  
-  
  
Maxim was surprised when she entered into the satellite. She was greeted and not treated as a prisoner. About time somebody treated me with respect, Meg thought. She and the soldier she had abducted were immediately brought before a large man with craggy features and gray hair.  
  
"Meg Jones, did you get the information to Captain Timothy?" Admiral Harrison stated it as if it were facts.  
  
"Uh, yes." Meg was floored. They knew who she was? They knew why she had grabbed him?  
  
"Oh, yes, we did manage to do something in the time you were gone." The Admiral's voice was as cold as ice, "Let's put it bluntly. I can use my position to shield you from the Genetic Purity Treaties. The only stipulation is that you come to work for me in the USSD." The implied threat was left unsaid.  
  
"You are worrying about using me at a time like this? You bastard!" Meg shouted at him. "I'm just trying to help you!"  
  
"Think very carefully about what your doing, young lady. I am one of the most powerful men of the planet. I can be a good friend," Admiral Harrison pointed out bluntly.  
  
"Go to hell!" Meg yelled as she headed for the door.  
  
"Captain, stop her with any means possible," Admiral Harrison demanded.  
  
"Yes, Sir!" Math didn't hesitate, setting the rail gun to full auto and opening fire. Meg tried to duck, but Math was the best the Marines had. Over two dozen spikes hit her dead on.  
  
Meg realized that she had to leave now, or lives would be lost. That rail gun hurt, but it wouldn't become life threatening, yet. A burst of laser vision melted the aperture on the hardsuit, but didn't look like it did more than temporarily jam the weapon. Meg moved fast. She ran back down to the other airlock and inside. She jammed closed the door with brute strength. The hardsuited warrior followed, who had met up with two more hardsuited figures.  
  
"I guess that's a no you won't forget, Admiral," Meg said as she knocked off the outer door. With a burst of unfettered speed, she zoomed out into the stars.  
  
-  
  
After a few minutes to calm down, she realized she would still have to deal with Juno. Which meant having a plan. With a burst of energy, she flew towards the Sun. She stopped herself just inside the orbit of Mercury and set herself to actively absorb the energies of the Sun. Pure light and radiation, she used, but it wasn't that important. The gravity-well truly powered her. She had only tried this trick once and it had nearly killed her. But it was the only thing that she could think of to do in this situation.  
  
After a full hour of basking in the Sun's radiance, Maxim flew back to Juno. She came in from hyper-space as close as she could. Her incandescent form immediately attracted all of the boomers. With bursts of energy she started to blast the boomers into glowing fragments. The boomers were no match for her power. After they were disabled, she turned to the mighty rocket. With large blasts of laser vision, she started to disable the mighty rocket.  
  
With her adrenaline at an all time high and almost drunk on the excess energy she had stored, Meg acted impulsively. Tapping into her already vast energy, she slammed into the surface of the planetoid. Gravity bent into a radically tight form and started to move trillions of tons. Slowly at first and then faster and faster it moved. The glow of hyper-space enfolded Juno and then it disappeared.  
  
-  
  
The skies above the western hemisphere lit up, as a new object appeared in the sky. Many looked to the sky and saw it with their own eyes. Satellites focused on the new object in the LaGrange 5 stable orbit. Most major newscasters were scrambling to get something other than a large asteroid appeared out of nowhere and took up orbit. What caused it, who caused it?  
  
-  
  
Admiral Harrison met with his staff again. "Gentleman, we have come across the gravest threat to our planet. You've all seen the information. Right now, we are the only ones who know what and who moved Juno. We can't let anyone else find out. Murphy, I want you to concoct a story to tell the press. Get in contact with Quincy and tell him that he is going to agree to say that he manufactured all of those components for us. No is not an option." Murphy nodded. "It's going to be obvious that it was his mining operation any ways." Harrison finished.  
  
"Sir, we have lost contact with the target. It vanished into the Pacific Ocean. We managed to follow it for a while, but lost her when she went below the one mile mark." An officer said, as he handed Admiral Harrison a report.  
  
"Meyers, head to MegaTokyo. She seems to be staying there. We'll ship you anything you need. Move out." Admiral Harrison finished up the meeting.  
  
Admiral Harrison turned and looked out into the rotating sky. He thought to himself. Even if she agreed to come, she's far too powerful. What's to stop her from throwing rocks at us or the Earth? Her innate goodness? He snorted. He didn't trust anyone that far.  
  
-  
  
Nene woke up and sat up. Stretching, she reached over and turned off her alarm. Today was the day. She was going to meet with a doctor that had agreed to do the operation. She got out of bed and then hopped into the bathroom.  
  
Nene wandered out later in her casual clothes. A blouse with a cute blue bow finished off her skirt and pumps. She nodded to Sylia, who was studying the newspaper with interest. She was dressed rather conservedily today, in a standard ladies suit.  
  
"What do you think of this Nene?" Sylia said as she handed the paper to Nene.  
  
Nene read and her puzzled expression just grew. "I'd heard of some things being researched, but this goes a little beyond what I've seen."  
  
"I don't trust the USSD. I'm going to find out what I can. Genom is also involved. But none of this fits with quite what Genom researches. They really don't have a lot of high energy research projects," Sylia stated. She didn't want to tell Nene, but something about the whole thing stank to high heaven.  
  
It took quite a bit of extra work, but she maintained her advanced technical advantage in the areas of high science and engineering. She regularly extended the theories that were being touted and figured not only what would be useful for the hardsuits, but what was on the cutting edge of science. This was decades in the future, minimum. And no one was claiming to have succeeded. And somebody would have.  
  
"Finish up Nene. We have to leave to pick up Linna and then drop you off at Dr. Katsumo's office," Sylia said over her cup of coffee.  
  
"Of course!" Nene replied excitedly. They both finished their breakfast and then headed towards the elevator. Almost as soon as they left, a message flashed on the video-phone.  
  
-  
  
Linna sat in bed, staring out the window. Since she had woken up, the doctors had interviewed her several times. Each time, she had rebuffed them. Linna didn't want to answer their questions and wouldn't answer. She was looking out the windows when Sylia and Nene arrived. She stubbornly looked away as Nene asked how she was doing in a timid voice.  
  
"Uh, Linna. How are you?" Nene asked. She looked over at Sylia, who just shook her head. The expression on her face was cold and somewhat disproving.  
  
"Linna, get up. We are leaving. We will discuss this when we are out of here." Sylia almost barked her orders out.  
  
Linna glared at Sylia and then resolutely looked back out to the blue sky. She had just a moment of warning before a loud slap rang through the air. Linna clutched her hand to her face.  
  
"Get up. I said we will discuss it when we are out of here." Sylia's stare could cause grown men to shiver and look away. Large rough men.  
  
"And what if I don't want to?" Linna inquired.  
  
"Your wants are irrelevant right now," Sylia said, her voice taught and cold.  
  
An orderly opened the door and looked in and then walked right back out as Sylia glared at him.  
  
Slowly, Linna sat up and started to dress. She put little effort into the clothes that she was putting. After a short while they ended up next to Sylia's car. Nene got in the back after a stern look from Sylia and then Linna and Sylia got in the front seat.  
  
Linna looked out to the side and avoided even glancing at the others. Sylia drove the car expertly through traffic. Eventually, they ended up in front of an office building. Sylia looked in the rear view mirror and then spoke to Nene.  
  
"You know what to do, correct? Dr. Katsumo promised that it would be outpatient only. But if there are complications, he stated he might keep you a few days for observation. Call us when you are able to." Sylia's voice had not softened one iota.  
  
"Yes, Sylia." Nene was struck by the odd urge to salute, but quashed it quickly. She somehow she didn't think that would be bright. Nene might be inane at times, but nobody every accused her of being that silly. She stepped out and then trotted into the office complex.  
  
-  
  
Sylia guided the car into its parking stall. She stepped out and then stared at Linna until she started to move. Linna hung her head as she shuffled into the elevator. The trip up to the penthouse seemed to take forever. Finally the elevator opened and Sylia walked into her office and sat down. Neither of them noticed the flashing message light on the video phone. They were far too intent on current matters.  
  
Linna followed hesitatingly and then sat down. She sat waiting for Sylia to start tearing into her. To do anything. Sylia seemed to be content to sit there and continue working on some papers. Linna eventually got her courage up and asked Sylia, "Didn't you want to talk to me."  
  
"Why?" Sylia continued to do her work.  
  
Linna looked unsure and then responded. "I... uh, I don't know why. I just assumed that you wanted to talk about... what happened." She fidgeted nervously.  
  
"I'm not your mother," Sylia said without looking up.  
  
"What does that mean?" Linna asked.  
  
"You are an adult. If you are having problems, you should have talked to me about it earlier. Before it had come to this. I don't need your problems being dumped on me too." Sylia still hadn't looked up.  
  
Linna just stared at Sylia like she had grown two heads. The silence became overwhelming. "Don't you even care about why I tried to commit suicide?" Linna asked.  
  
"If you want to tell me. So talk." Sylia reached over and turned her computer on and activated several screens.  
  
Linna closed her eyes and then continued. "I thought that you had wanted Priss and I to kill Nene. So I... I went and got your gun with the intention of shooting Nene."  
  
"So?" Sylia touched her monitor again and changed screens. Just to keep her hands busy.  
  
"I can't live with myself. How could I go and plan to kill a friend?" Linna started to sob.  
  
Sylia looked up finally and then with a slightly softer voice, replied, "You did not pull the trigger and kill Nene. You just thought about it."  
  
"But I was going to!" Linna almost wailed.  
  
"Then why are you having a problem with it then? If you really were going to kill her, you would not feel any remorse. You feel remorse, so there for you wouldn't have shot Nene. In the end you would not have. No matter what you think," Sylia stated bluntly. "That is not the real problem."  
  
"What do you mean?" Linna asked.  
  
"You haven't had any problems in you personal life? Everything has been going just the way you planned?" Sylia replied, looking directly into her eyes.  
  
"Well, I haven't been able to get a good job ever since the Illegal Army fiasco. And... I'm being sued. They know I don't have the money to help anyone. But they don't care. I guess a favored client's nephew lost a great deal of money. So the firm I worked at has black balled me. And is a friend of the court on the lawsuit. They are asking for seventy million yen in damages."  
  
Sylia sat there for a moment, stunned. "Why didn't you come and ask for help when this happened. That was months ago."  
  
"I wanted to prove to everyone that I could make it on my own. To be able to be successful in my own right." Linna dragged in a deep breath. "I don't know why I couldn't come to you for help. Maybe it's because I've always been considered superficial or shallow. 'It's all about the money, isn't it?'" Linna did a fair impression of Priss.  
  
"And so you wanted to prove that you could fix this problem by yourself," Sylia stated, not asked. "But when it didn't fix, you had to hide it even farther. Linna, we are your friends. We could have helped."  
  
Linna started to sob and continued to cry for several minutes. Sylia waited and then reached across her desk and took Linna's hand. "We can still help. But you have to want to be helped. And you let it become a worse problem by not confronting it," Sylia said. "We still need you. You're the best fighter we have."  
  
"I never saw myself as the best fighter. Priss is always defeating these big menaces or the hyper-boomers. I've just always plugging away. You and Nene always seem to do more important things. I'm just a grunt," Linna said doubtfully. Tears were still streaming down her face.  
  
"You also rarely really damage you suit, you hardly ever get hurt and you always manage to succeed in your battles. Those are rare qualities in a warrior," Sylia said. She reached over behind her desk and poured a couple of drinks. "You should never be ashamed of what you are. Even if you aren't as 'flashy' or 'showy.' Those traits usually get you killed."  
  
Linna took a small sip of her drink. "I never thought about it that way."  
  
"I would be surprised if you did. So how do you want to fix this?" Sylia said over her glass.  
  
"How would you solve it?" Linna asked.  
  
"It depends. If they have the legal clout to push it through any court, don't fight it. If they haven't fielded a decent team, hire a better team and trounce them in court. I'll have my lawyer take a look at it," Sylia replied and then silently held her glass forward and was rewarded with a clink as they toasted on it.  
  
"But if I don't fight it, how do I pay the restitution?" Linna asked.  
  
"Those figures are obviously too high. That can be fought by any means. And if worse comes to worse, I'm sure that I can loan that myself. You'll just have to work it off. And speaking of that, I have to go and meet with my street contact. The Knight Sabers haven't done anything in weeks. It's time to remind people that we are still here and still need to be paid to fix other peoples problems," Sylia said as she stood up. "We'll go out and stop a couple of rampaging boomers to get us back in shape, even if Nene can't go out with us."  
  
"Aye, Aye, Ma'am. I guess it's back to real life for me," Linna said as she stood up. "Can I get you to drop me off at my home?"  
  
Sylia nodded as she headed out the door. "Of course. But don't ever shut us out again, Linna. We all need you too much."  
  
-  
  
Priss cruised into the parking garage of the Silky Doll later. After getting up into the penthouse, she harrumphed and stalked around. Not finding anybody, she eventually crashed in front of the TV. She finally noticed the flashing light on the video phone and toggled it to find out who it was.  
  
"Oh, great, Mackie." Priss covered her eyes theatrically. At that very instant, the phone started to ring. Seeing it was from an international flight, Priss hit the button and answered.  
  
"Sylia's, Priss speaking," Priss said into the phone.  
  
"Priss? Is my sister around? I need to speak to her." Mackie's face appeared on the screen.  
  
"I don't know where she is right now, shrimp. I think she was going to a business meeting," Priss said as she casually started to flip through channels.  
  
"Didn't she get my message? Somebody tried to kill me last night." Mackie surprise was evident.  
  
"Get out of here. What did you do, get into trouble for being a peeping tom?" Priss said.  
  
"That's not funny Priss. Somebody tried to run me over. On the autobahn. I thought it might have to do with, um, Sylia's side business." Mackie sidestepped at the last moment to avoid mentioning the Knight Sabers.  
  
"Nope, nothing that I would be aware of. You're not kidding are you? You all right?" Priss turned off the TV and turned back to Mackie.  
  
"Pretty much, but I decided that I could do with a visit home. My wrist is in a cast and I've got a lot of scrapes." Mackie held up his left hand.  
  
"So when are you coming in?" Priss asked.  
  
"About two hours. Can you tell her to pick me up?" Mackie asked.  
  
"I don't know if she'll be back. How about I pick you up?" Priss said, cocking her head to the side.  
  
"Um, you're not upset about those pictures still, are you?" Mackie asked nervously.  
  
"Oh, not at all. I got Sylia's permission to make your life a living hell, if I ever caught you doing that again. Remember?" Priss grinned wickedly.  
  
"Oh, yeah. I guess I'll be seeing you then," Mackie murmured quietly and then signed off.  
  
Hmm, I guess I don't need to report in on our mystery lady today. Priss thought to herself as she walked out. And hey, I get to avoid talking to Sylia about Leon.  
  
-  
  
Why did Fargo always have to pick the sleaziest of dives for his meetings? I always stick out like a sore thumb, Sylia thought to herself. Scanning around, she spotted him sitting in a corner booth. Fargo was of course wearing his trademark brown suit. Walking quietly over, she gave him a moment to notice her and then sat down. A waitress wandered by and took her order for a drink she wouldn't touch.  
  
"So, back and looking for some work? I've got a couple of things today. If your interested?" Fargo smiled as he took a drag of his cigarette.  
  
"What sort of jobs?" Sylia said, as she turned and looked out over the small crowd in the bar. She pulled out her own cigarette and lit it.  
  
"A reactionary group in the area has been causing too big of a ruckus and a politician who is up for election in a few months wants the matter handled quietly. He's big in promoting law and peace. He doesn't want anybody rocking the boat. Next is a case to find a person for the USSD..." Fargo was cut off abruptly by Sylia.  
  
"Only if they agree to pay one hundred million yen up front and they don't hold back any information. We are very expensive after the last few fiasco's they landed us in," Sylia stated bluntly. No more missing persons cases.  
  
"Or there is a private bounty on a gang. Nobody is willing to go after them and they use boomers as their grunts. They keep them on a tight reign and leave before the ADP show up. Nasty bunch of criminals," Fargo finished up.  
  
"Get me some more information about the first and the last one and give them my working conditions to the USSD. I'll get in touch with you tomorrow. Your standard retainer fee has already been pre-paid." Sylia stood up and started to walk out.  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
Sylia had almost reached the door when a large man of unknown racial ethnicity stepped in front of her. He leered at her for just a moment and then pulled out a large knife. "What's wrong lady, we not upper class enough for you?" Sylia glanced quickly left and right to check for more people. Nobody seemed to be watching his back. Sylia leaned back as the thug reached for her. With a quick flick, her hold out gun snapped out into her hand.  
  
Her other hand didn't stand still as she chopped into his wrist and made him drop his knife. Her gun ended up on his temple, which started to sweat profusely. In a very calm voice, she spoke to her attacker, "I'm leaving. If you value your life, you won't follow."  
  
Her audience gaped and just stood there. The whole thing had lasted but a second. Sylia turned him around to rest of his friends and then did a sharp kick to his knee. A nasty cracking sound filled the air and then the howls of his pain. He fell backwards into the crowd. Sylia then calmly walked out toward her car.  
  
"I hope Fargo picks a better place next time."  
  
-  
  
"Hey, Mackie!" Priss called out and waved her arm high to grab his attention.  
  
"Hello Priss." Mackie limped over with his bags. He looked tired and was obviously in pain. But in spite of that, he definitely showed that he had matured. He was broader and walked with an easy grace.  
  
"You going to be all right?" Priss asked.  
  
"I've felt better, but I'm not going to die."  
  
"Do you want to take a taxi? I can park my bike until I get a ride back."  
  
Mackie just stared for a second and then asked with a totally straight face, "Who are you? What did you do to Priss?"  
  
"What? Mackie, I'm not heartless. Mean, yeah. But not heartless." Priss put an offended face forward.  
  
"Sure. Which alien race are you from?" Mackie smiled broadly.  
  
"Not funny. So do you want a lift or not?" Priss asked again.  
  
"I can survive your bike, as long as you take it easy. I've only got this small carry on." Mackie replied as he held up a small bag.  
  
"All right then! Let's get going." Priss said as she grabbed his bag and started walking out. Mackie limped behind her.  
  
A quick walk to her bike and they set out. Priss plugged them both into her bike's stereo system. Now they could talk and listen to music. Mackie settled in for the drive to the renovated Silky Doll.  
  
"So you really aren't angry? I'd have thought that you would kill me," Mackie said, his voice distorted, slightly covering Priss's favorite music.  
  
"Mackie, I dress up in skin tight leather on stage. I have modesty mostly to get your goat. Nene on the other hand would hate it," Priss replied as she bounced through traffic.  
  
"Oh, okay then."  
  
"Besides, you were a kid then. You almost an adult now," Priss said.  
  
Mackie worked on slipping a package into Priss's jacket.  
  
"So how's Sho? Are you still helping him out sometimes?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Last time I saw him, he was fine. Starting to get into girls now and getting into trouble." Priss smiled beneath her helmet.  
  
-  
  
Sylia walked into the penthouse suite and finally checked her messages. A couple from Mackie and the last one from Priss, telling her that she went to pick up Mackie at the airport. Sylia paused at that and then went to the computer room. Something nagged at her and she decided to look deeper.  
  
Reaching over, she put on her headsets, then focused on finding anything unusual in the last couple of days. She was still there, when Mackie and Priss walked in. They searched her out, eventually finding that she was in the computer room.  
  
Standing outside knocking, Priss looked over at Mackie. "Why doesn't she answer?"  
  
"Oh, she's probably zoned out. She's always like that when she's working on something important," Mackie said. "You just have to wait."  
  
"So I take it this isn't new?" Priss asked as they walked back to the kitchen. Opening the fridge she reached in and snagged a soda. Looking over at him as he nodded, she grabbed him one too. She handed it to him and then took her red biker jacket off, then laid it on the edge of the couch.  
  
"Nah, she's always been like that since dad died. Just driven," Mackie replied, as he tried to open the bottle.  
  
The door opened and Sylia walked out from the computer room. She ignored them for a moment, walking over to the bar and poured herself a drink. She stood there a second and stared outside, then sipped at the drink.  
  
"Hello, Mackie. How is school?" Sylia asked still staring out the window.  
  
"Fine. So what the big mystery that you couldn't tell me over the phone or in a letter?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Nene's been exposed as a Knight Saber. She lives here now," Sylia said with little expression or emotion. You couldn't see her hand shaking from across the room from mentioning the fairly important news.  
  
"Oh." That was all Mackie could say.  
  
Priss just stared at Sylia. Priss thought, this is weird. How come I get the feeling I'm missing something?  
  
"So how is your personal research into artificial intelligence?" Mackie asked.  
  
"I've got the algorithms optimized at Bleasker's third level of competency," Sylia said. "The cost is about half of what a current boomer's AI would cost. And mostly inorganic."  
  
Mackie gaped and stammered, "That's incredible. Why haven't you published anything about it?"  
  
"It would be too dangerous. It wouldn't take much inference to wonder what I had been doing for the last four years," Sylia responded mechanically. "And that would be disastrous. And the technology is based on Stingray patents. Those are still owned by Genom. I would be lucky to make an American red penny out of any of the advances."  
  
"Oh, so how long until you could make a definitive break through that wasn't based on the old patents?" Mackie asked.  
  
"About two years, at my current rate," Sylia said.  
  
Priss, looking very confused, looked at Mackie and asked, "What does this really mean?"  
  
Mackie just looked at Priss with a bemused look and answered with a smirk, "It means my sister is only about five years ahead of anyone else. While puttering around in a garage for the last six months."  
  
"Oh," Priss said.  
  
The phone filled the pause, Sylia walked over and answered it. "Hello, Shawna. Are you ready to be picked up?" She waited a moment and then said, "Very well, I'll be by in about a half an hour." She hit the button, looking at the others.  
  
"I'm calling a meeting for tonight. Your invited Mackie, though I don't expect anything for you." Sylia pulled on her jacket meticulously. "Could you please call Linna and let her know that everybody will be here in about an hour or so."  
  
"Sure."  
  
-  
  
The scene, a shadowed room with men sitting at a large table. A few of the people are obviously in uniforms of some sort, but it is dark enough that nothing except basic features can be made out. A video screen flickers to life, an unusual visage appears before them.  
  
"Mr. Polarion. We wish to hire your services to deal with a problem." One of the figures started the meeting with his gruff business tone.  
  
"What sort of problem? And for what sort of fees?" The helmeted figure said. On his side of the screen, all he saw was two or three figures sitting at a table. The carefully crafted electronic illusion made sure of that.  
  
"Our understanding is that you are familiar with an entity known a 'Maxim.'" An affirmative was received as a curt nod. "We wish to hire you, to either help capture her or help in her execution. Your payment will be one billion dollars in American dollars," the same figure spoke.  
  
"What did she do?" Polarion asked.  
  
"Answering any questions will cut your payments by a very substantial amount. Are you sure you really want to know?" The shadowed figure replied.  
  
"It's not really that important. I'll be in charge of this? And you will pay for any reasonable overhead charges?" The shadowed figure replied affirmatively. "Then I'll set a trap tonight."  
  
"We wish to have an observer present or close by," the figure stated.  
  
Polarion gnashed his teeth, then replied, "Very well. Have your observers in place. MegaTokyo, at the ruins of the Aqua City project by midnight. Payment to be made in gold bullion. When she is turned over to you."  
  
"This is all agreeable. Until later, Mr. Polarion." And the figure made a gesture, the connection was cut. "Does anyone else have any problems? Or comments?" Everyone shook their heads. The lights faded and the room was left in darkness.  
  
-  
  
Meg looked out over the Pacific as the sun set. It seemed to be the darkest sunset and a breeze seemed to be blowing in from the north. It sent a chill her to her bones. She hugged herself and watched the waves. The waves sparkled red as the last embers of the sun went behind the mountains.  
  
-  
  
Priss slouched on the couch, as was her wont. Linna had shown up and taken up her seat in one of the chairs. Mackie was busy asking her about what had happened. Linna was bringing him up to speed about the last week or two. Priss just shook her head and thought about what a messed up month it had been. At least they hadn't been called to find a missing person recently. Those always caused problems.  
  
As they were sitting and chatting, Sylia and Nene walked in. Nene stopped when she saw Mackie just sitting there. Her face was lightly bandaged and she just stared at him. Her hands went to her face. "Sylia, what is Mackie doing here?" Her hands went up her bandaged face. Her voice was quite slurred.  
  
"Nene?" Mackie looked up from where he was talking to Linna. She didn't sound like Nene, but something about the way she stood there tugged at his heart.  
  
"Mackie flew back in from Germany today. It slipped my mind while I was talking to you on the way here." Sylia looked at Nene and then to Mackie. "I think that you can wait for your reunion till after the meeting."  
  
Nene went over and sat next to Mackie. She leaned forward with an intent look.  
  
Sylia took off her jacket and sat down. She keyed the holographic projector. "Our mission tonight, is to destroy some specific boomers. The only thing different about this mission, is that these boomers are being used by a street gang named the Golden Curtain. They're a fairly new gang, but technically advanced."  
  
"Isn't this something that the ADP would handle?" Linna asked.  
  
"Yes and I'm sure that they are going to try and respond to the next attack. We will be there first. Certain parties want this handled quickly and quietly. I am not going to argue with someone who wants to pay us," Sylia responded dryly. "We'll be set up in the Knightwing, ready and able to get to any section of MegaTokyo in five minutes."  
  
"Sounds all right to me," Priss said.  
  
"I've gotten some information that they are going to be hitting either a bank or a jewelry store. We will not shoot or capture any people. Our job is to take care of the boomers," Sylia finished up. "The client wants the N- police to make the arrests."  
  
"And that brings us to our second point of the meeting. Someone has attacked as many people that were close to Nene as they could find," Sylia stated simply.  
  
The expressions on everybody's face ranged from just surprise, to outright anger. Except for Sylia, who sounded as if she had just said it was going to rain.  
  
"Who is the creep that did this?" Priss jumped to her feet and demanded. "I bet you it's that bitch Madigan."  
  
"We don't know yet. This is an attack on my organization. We will not run out and have our revenge. That is one code that I will not break again." Sylia's hard edged voice stopped Priss in mid step. Priss stared at Sylia for just a second. Sylia stared hard back, finally Priss sat back down.  
  
"If anyone deserves revenge, it is Nene, Mackie and myself. They attacked him in the hopes of at least hurting Nene emotionally. I do not like to be manipulated. And I am not going to fall into a trap. The Knight Sabers will deal with this problem, with the appropriate measures," Sylia said with a degree of harshness that most of the Knight Sabers had only heard a time or two. "Besides, we all know what happened the last time we ran off to get revenge."  
  
Sylia looked around, expecting some sort of response. Grudgingly, the rest nodded, realizing that they had to agree. Priss looked the least happy, but finally even she nodded.  
  
"Very well. Nene, you are going to be on light duty in the Knightwing. Priss and Linna will be primary forwards, with me being in reserve. There shouldn't really be a need for the motoslaves. These aren't going to be top of the line combat boomers. Nene, the latest upgrades have been added to your suit."  
  
"I would like to help!" Mackie spoke up suddenly.  
  
"With you being hurt, I am not going to be worrying about you too. Besides your suit hasn't even been upgraded or serviced recently." Seeing his upset looks, Sylia relented and added, "If you want you can be in the truck for emergency pick up, if the Knightwing has to leave to refuel." Mackie brightened at this prospect.  
  
"Anything else?" Sylia asked. "Then let's get ready."  
  
-  
  
Mackie stopped what he was doing and looked over at a small figure that was busy loading a small cargo lift to go to the hanger. "Hey, uh, Nene. Can I talk to you?"  
  
Nene stopped and then drove the lift over. "What's up Mackie?"  
  
"I just wanted to say that I, uh, missed you. And it's nice to see you again. And I'm really sorry to hear about your parents." Mackie tried his best to keep his cool as he talked.  
  
"It's nice to see you too. Um, if you don't mind, why did you go to Germany? It was kind of sudden." Nene blurted out through stiff lips.  
  
"I had to get away for a while. Become my own person, if that makes any sense. I was a bit afraid of just becoming my sister's shadow. And I had to do some thinking about... us." Mackie responded, with a look of apprehension.  
  
"So what did you decide, about us." Nene said stiffly. Her eyes started to sparkle just a little more.  
  
"When I saw you there, for the first time in weeks, my heart just about stopped. I'd like to work on our relationship," Mackie completed breathlessly.  
  
"I would too, Mackie. But why did you run away?" Nene asked again.  
  
"The truth?" Mackie said as he looked away, "I was scared that you wouldn't ever see me as more than a kid brother or worse, as Sylia's kid brother."  
  
Nene reached out and held his hand for just a moment. "I hope you aren't disappointed. I'm not the same person I was when you left. A lot has happened."  
  
"All I want is a chance, for both of us," Mackie said looking deep into her eyes.  
  
"A chance for both of us, agreed." Nene nodded.  
  
"Come on you two, we've got work to do!" Priss yelled at them both from across the room.  
  
Linna smacked Priss and then said, "Hey, give them a minute. We don't have to be ready for a while."  
  
"Are you encouraging them?" Priss said in mock horror.  
  
"Yes." Linna said with a very determined look.  
  
-  
  
"Everyone ready?" Everyone replied with the affirmative. "Activating decoy holograms." Dozens of Knightwings appeared over the city engines blaring loudly as they flew over the city. "Activating sound dampers." Sylia continued, "Lifting off." The Knightwing lifted off gracefully, quietly. All of the Knight Sabers were in the cramped confines of the Knightwing. Only Linna had her helmet on already.  
  
Sylia thought back to when she had first remodeled the Silky Doll with the hanger. Unfortunately, these extra precautions weren't in place then. She shuddered internally about what would have happened if someone had spotted the plane leaving. We would have been crucified. Perhaps the only reason we hadn't is because we had just saved MegaTokyo from Largo. A second time. She shook her head, pulling herself out of her reverie.  
  
With a flick of a switch, she deactivated the sound dampers and pushed the engines to full throttle to gain cruising altitude. Nene switched off the dedicated hologram projectors, the small machines zipping back to a special recovery area.  
  
"How is the truck, Mackie?" Sylia asked over the communication system.  
  
"I don't even have to drive. It's a pretty cushy job. Not nearly the work it used to be," Mackie replied as he leaned back in his seat. He yelped as he accidentally hit his broken hand on the cab wall.  
  
"Don't get too comfortable. You still have your job to do."  
  
-  
  
Elsewhere, a much more spectacular show was about to start. Aqua city wasn't much more than a mass of melted metal. It had become home to some of the most desperate types and no police, ADP or Normal, would send less than a squad to go looking for any criminal. A figure stood in the shadows. Instead of his normal white and purple, he wore a much more concealing black and very dark purple. He scanned everything around him with senses more acute than his eyes. "We are ready? Then let's start our show gentlemen and ladies," Polarion said to his people.  
  
Immediately, a large section of the ruined city exploded. A copter flying nearby noticed the light and immediately swooped in closer. Moments later the ADP copter exploded in fragments, screaming for backup. It looked like a new war had just started.  
  
Polarion kept watch. The police didn't interest him in the slightest. But the best way to bring a super-hero out was to hurt their friends and comrades. And they always considered themselves a part of the law. Even when they murdered in cold blood.  
  
-  
  
Leon sat at his desk with his arms folded. A cup of cold coffee sat on his desk, as the overhead chatterbox crackled with voices. He barely heard the copter pilot, until he started to scream and panic. The line went dead, until the dispatcher came on.  
  
Leon leaped to his feat. Action, just what he needed. "My Unit, let's go."  
  
He was brought short by a shout. The new police chief, Hyro, stood there. "Where do you think your going, Leon?" A thick necked man, most of the force had little respect for the Normal Police officer that had been promoted over everyone's head.  
  
"It looks like some sort of heavy action is taking place. That's the sort of thing that the AD Police is for." Leon yelled back from across the room.  
  
"Yes, it is, isn't it? But don't you think you could at least wait for the dispatchers to send you and your men out? Instead of being a glory hound?" Hyro stated more than asked.  
  
"Do you think that's what this is all about?" Leon asked, totally aghast.  
  
"Leon, I'd rather work with you, than against you. Hot-headed stunts like yours get people killed. You might think that some of my policies are stupid, but you will follow them or I'll bust you so far down, you'll be cleaning other TAC officer's weapons for a month," Hyro yelled angrily. "Do I make myself clear?"  
  
"Yes. Sir," Leon said through clenched teeth.  
  
The chatterbox suddenly piped up again, requesting TAC squads Alpha, Bravo and Delta to immediately head out to Aqua City. Hardsuits would be on call if needed.  
  
Leon looked up at the squawk box and then replied much more loudly, "Yes, SIR!" Maybe this new chief wouldn't be so bad.  
  
As the chief watched them leave, he sighed. He hoped it wasn't too much to do to gain the loyalty of these men. They needed some sort of win.  
  
-  
  
Polarion watched with discomfort as the ADP showed up. They were driving on the last connecting stretch of road.  
  
One of his men piped up, "Oh, shit. They never send this many men out."  
  
Polarion glared at him for just a moment. "I am perfectly aware of that, Muske. We still have the advantage. This place is a death trap meant to kill an uber-woman. These AD Police don't know what is going to hit them." Polarion grinned under his tinted visor.  
  
"Move out, men," Musk yelled as they prepared to fight.  
  
The first shot took out the middle heavy transport. Working to split the ADP into two smaller forces, the rest of Polarion's men opened up. Casualties started to mount until the ADP started to show their training and absolute survivability. Anyone who had been part of the ADP force for over three months was as seasoned as any war vet.  
  
Polarion's men started to find this out the hard way, when the ADP rallied and led a charge to break their strong point. After fierce minutes of fighting, the ADP was back in one group. Attack copters swept in from the south bay and lit up the fighting area with tracers.  
  
Pulling on some of the considerable resources he had designed into this island, he activated some of the remote particle beam cannons. They popped up and started to fire from where they had been concealed. More ADP officers started to drop until Leon yelled out. "Fan out and hit those things with everything you got. After that expect a rush to push us back."  
  
Polarion continued to watch and waited for her to appear. He knew it couldn't be long.  
  
-  
  
Nene was monitoring several police bands and switched it to the overhead speakers. All of the Knight Sabers listened for just a moment.  
  
Priss was the first to speak up, excitement evident on her features. "So let's go and help them."  
  
"No," Sylia said firmly.  
  
"Why not?" Priss exclaimed angrily.  
  
"Because we won't help the ADP if we always show up to do their job," Sylia said, banking the plane over MegaTokyo.  
  
Nene continued to listen. "I understand what you mean, but it sounds like a war out there. Can't we do anything?"  
  
Sylia glared at Nene and replied directly to her, "They can handle this on their own. We are on assignment. We are mercenaries and need to take jobs to pay for our equipment. Don't question my orders again."  
  
"Yes, Sylia. I'm sorry." Nene managed to look mortified even under the bandages. She hoped that the muscle paralytic only lasted till morning, even though it made it hard for her to talk. Luckily with the advances with nano-surgery, she'd be able to take these bandages off in a couple of days. Nene listened for a moment and then piped up. "The Golden Curtain has been spotted, near the Exchange district. Plotting in an intercept and vector."  
  
"Nene, I'm switching to auto pilot. I want you up here in the cockpit to drop us off. Helmets on, ladies," Sylia said over her shoulder as she reached for her own helmet. After a bit of shuffling, everyone was ready.  
  
Nene nervously switched the auto pilot off and manually flew the plane towards the drop off zone. Under her breath she kept muttering, "It's just like the arcade. It's just like the arcade. It's just like the arcade," Over and over, almost as a mantra. She flicked the safeties off of the first rack of missiles and then said over her headset, "Launching cover. ETA, five seconds to drop off." The sounds of missiles launching reverberated in the plane.  
  
"Ready?" Sylia asked.  
  
"Ready!" Priss replied.  
  
"Ready as I'm going to get." Linna also replied.  
  
"I thought you didn't mind heights, Linna?" Priss asked glancing at Linna.  
  
"Go!" Sylia yelled.  
  
"Heights are no problem. It's falling I hate!" Linna yelled as she jumped out the back bay.  
  
"Oh, now you tell us!" Priss quipped as she too leaped out the back of the plane. Linna and Priss took a spread-eagled position as they fell. As the two hardsuited figures dropped fast, they angled themselves to land near the edges of the main street. Sylia's wings were already deployed, she was flying over to a roof.  
  
With jump jets blasting to bring them to a safe landing, Priss and Linna landed on opposite sides of the street. Thick rolling smoke covered the street. It slowly started to clear, just as planned. Exposed in the center of the road was their target. A bulky truck sat in the middle of the road. Three upgraded construction boomers stood around them, searching for targets to attack with their large caliber machine guns. Their armor looked a bit slapdash.  
  
"Three targets outside. A standard attack pattern, White?" Priss asked. Fancy words for go in there and take them apart.  
  
"Yes!" Sylia responded.  
  
"Knight Sabers, GO!" Linna yelled as she and Priss charged out of concealment. Priss charged and fired in one smooth motion, damaging the machine gun on the center boomer. Linna seemed to skate around the second ones gun fire. At the last moment, she dived forward, pushed off from a hand stand, then whipped her head around and with that, her ribbons.  
  
Landing gracefully behind the pieces of her first target, Linna pivoted on one foot, then shot her blades into the second one's chest. Electricity arced and the second boomer jerked erratically as its delicate systems were shorted out. The last boomer charged Linna from behind.  
  
Just as it appeared that Linna was about to get hit, a blue blur struck it in a weak spot, underneath its arm. Priss activated her impact knuckles and braced herself. With a muffled explosion, the last boomer ended up as small fragments, spread out across the street.  
  
The truck rumbled to life and started to pull away. "Blue, get that truck and make sure that there are no boomers in there. Green, clean up the bank. If you engage any humans, use minimal force. Try to scare them out. The N- Police is on their way. We are to let them make the capture, remember."  
  
"You got it, White!" Priss yelled as she tried to catch the truck. With a jet-assisted leap she managed to catch onto the back of the truck. It rounded the corner, accelerating fast.  
  
Linna ran to the main doors of the bank and dove inside. Her helmet display lit up, showing two boomers and three gang members. She blinked in surprise and then yelled a warning as she dove back out the door. "They have a bu- 12b. Where the hell did they get that?" She ducked and rolled, as the boomer followed her out, tracking her with military precision. The large boomer burst out of the front, chasing the much smaller figure.  
  
"Do you need backup, Green?" Sylia asked.  
  
Linna ducked behind a car that started to get hammered by the combat boomer. "Not yet. I've got something I've been meaning to try." With that she charged around the back of the car and started to charge the boomer. The boomer easily lined up its shot until the green Knight Saber started to bounce erratically from side to side as she charged forward. Linna used her thrusters on her back to zip her from side to side, fast. At the last moment, she kicked herself into the air and whipped out her ribbons.  
  
They cut in, but not far enough to stop the boomer. Linna curled up and then passed right over the boomer. She pivoted around and her feet connected into the wall behind the boomer. The boomer half spun as she kicked off and flashed back into the air. For just a moment, the boomer's new wounds were exposed. Linna pointed both of her arms at it and fired her blades. She spun and landed on the ground in a kneeling position. The Bu- 12b managed to get one shot off before it too started to jerk and twist. It collapsed a moment later.  
  
"Yes!" Linna said under her breath. Small fire arms started to ricochet off or her armor. The green and orange figure casually stood up as the blades retracted, turning to look at the gang members shooting her. She wagged her finger at them until they finally quit.  
  
At that time the N-Police finally showed up and piled out of their cars. They yelled at everyone to surrender. A couple of them turned towards the green Knight saber, but she was already jetting up to the roof. Sylia was standing there, waiting.  
  
"I feel much better," Linna said.  
  
Sylia didn't answer, as she scanned the area for Priss and started to leap from roof to roof.  
  
Linna shrugged and then followed.  
  
-  
  
Polarion stared at the carnage below. The ADP was actually starting to pull through on their own. His men were starting to fail and fall. With a shrug he flew into the middle of the battle and started to throw large metal objects at the front line. He activated the last of the auto cannons. At that point his internal radar picked up a figure running across the water leaving a fifty foot tall wake. "I can't believe her timing! What is it with super-heroes and their timing?" Polarion complained.  
  
The cannons started to track their primary target, when all of a sudden she disappeared with a splash. The cannons tracked back and forth for a second. Then an explosion occurred about a hundred feet in from the bay on the artificial island. A whirlwind of destruction emerged and started to destroy the automatic cannons with blasts of laser vision.  
  
Leon blinked and stared in surprise as the last of the resistance was swept away. Leon looked back at his men and said to them, "I think our invitation to this party just expired. What do you think?" His men just nodded, starting to pull back to the road. Leon followed with a limp, helping a wounded officer.  
  
Floating high in the air, Polarion looked down at Maxim and spoke in American English. "So, it is up to just us now."  
  
"It does appear that way," Maxim replied in her normal southern drawl. And with that she blasted at him with her full power of her laser vision.  
  
-  
  
"The target has appeared and has initiated contact. What are your orders?" A figure said into a radio." A pause, "Very well, Project Atlantis is go! Repeat, go! Thirty seconds until zero." And with that he crouched back down in the shadows and watched with his binoculars the stunning fight being laid out before him.  
  
-  
  
"What's wrong Polarion? Out of practice?" Maxim jibed as she slapped her hands in front of her. The stunning wave of sound just barely hit Polarion.  
  
Gritting his teeth behind his helmet, he replied with a devastating beam of pure magnetism. It struck Maxim dead on and blasted an area fifty feet in diameter to splinters. "You wish." And with that he started to fly away from the devastated island.  
  
Maxim shook her head while she healed a bit, then grabbed a five pound chuck of metal. Taking a moment, she molded it to a sphere. After she had finished that, she leaped into the air, accelerating past the speed of sound.  
  
Polarion grinned as he felt her fly after him. He had a trick prepared that he'd used against other foes that flew faster than he did. He prepared to materialize a force field potent enough stop missiles. Whirling about he created it with a thought in between him and his target. "Die!"  
  
Maxim zoomed past him to one side, not even realizing the trap or hearing him. She started to slow down just after she passed him, which left his ears ringing from the sonic boom. She spun around and threw her missile. Her arm made another sonic boom at about a third of the pitch. By the time her fingers had let go of the impromptu missile, it was going far beyond the speed of sound. Polarion had no time to react before he was slammed from behind with the force of a run away train. He arced through the air and impacted with Aqua City.  
  
"Hey, let's keep the civilians out of this, all right?" Maxim drawled.  
  
Polarion staggered to his feat and drew himself up. "I see you're as strong as ever." With a touch of his magnetic might, he triggered his gauntlets. "I on the other hand am stronger than ever!"  
  
"Sure, sure, what... ever?" Maxim started to glance around. Polarion also sensed something unusual and looked around him. It seemed like the very air was charged with electricity.  
  
"What sort of trick is this?" Polarion demanded angrily.  
  
"Funny, that's what I was going to ask," Maxim said.  
  
Both of them prepared to defend themselves to the best of the abilities.  
  
A white glowing bubble surrounded Polarion, but around Maxim there appeared a glass globe, distorting everything.  
  
Polarion's eyes suddenly widened and with a frantic push threw himself as far away as possible. It was an orbital particle beam attack. He could see the air ionizing in preparation of the imminent attack. Maxim just stared, starting to fly after him when the air turned molten.  
  
-  
  
In orbit, the power build up finally finished. A lance of pure destruction erupted towards the Earth. The satellite was over China at that point. It was an older model and worth the risk of losing when its location was compromised.  
  
It died a fiery death moments later, from a ground to air particle beam attack from China.  
  
-  
  
Nene groused to herself, "I never get to do anything interesting." Nene was still at the controls of the Knightwing, angling her flight to bring her a better view of the fight at Aqua City. It looked like the ADP had pulled back a half kilometer down the road. They looked like they just wanted to watch the two figures fight it out. "Wow." Nene breathed as she focused in closer on the fight with the Knightwing's sensors. It was like something out of an old American comic book.  
  
And then the night sky lit up and it felt like an explosion struck the plane. Nene screamed, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEE." at the top of her lungs for a long moment. Looking over the controls, she tried to figure out what happened. A red glare caught her eye and she turned her head, looking out to the side of plane. "Buddha!" Nene said with a quaver. Most of the wing was gone, blasted to splinters or on fire. The rest of that side didn't look much better and the plane was starting to spin. Nene reached over and grabbed her helmet from its catch, slamming it on.  
  
"Red Saber to group, Knightwing hit, going down near... in the bay near Aqua City. Lost the right wing, preparing to eject!" Nene managed to get out as she keyed in the self destruct for ten seconds. She reached over and opened the panel for the emergency eject, then pulled the lever. The canopy blew open and the chair she was in self timed its departure from the rapidly spinning plane. A blast pushed her as the chair ejected up into the sky.  
  
Moments later the Knightwing exploded just over the remains of Aqua City. Nene hit the ripcord on the seat and was rewarded by a red light. She slammed it again and the parachute tried to deploy. It popped out, but would not grab air. "Oh, damn." Nene cursed. Checking her speed and how far she had to go, she made a rapid decision. She released herself from the chair and activated her jump jets, leaping into the air.  
  
Nene calculated her descent, how much her thrusters were going to be able to slow her. Unfortunately, they weren't really meant for flying. Which meant she was going to have to use them past their safe limit and hope they didn't melt. Nene activated her first thrust at two thousand feet, slowing herself down. Her second blast was at the eight hundred foot mark. At one hundred feet, she turned them on and left them to burn out.  
  
Nene hit the water going fifty kilometers per hour, a mere two thousand feet on the bay side of the Aqua City. Nene was still mentally debating about screaming when she hit.  
  
-  
  
Priss was still attached to the truck, when it went through some odd changes. Canvas popped out to cover the truck and the back that she was holding onto shifted with hydraulics. With a fast grab, she managed to hang onto the back, her feet letting out sparks from where they were being dragged. With a grunt of effort, she managed to pull herself up.  
  
Just in time for the truck to be swallowed up whole as it rounded another corner and went into an alley. The new huge truck's door's slammed shut instantly. With a roar, the new vehicle took off. Priss let herself down and stood there a second. Curiosity waged an unusual battle with her anger and she decided to wait to see where the truck went.  
  
"Blue Saber to White Saber, I'm in the truck. I don't see any more boomers, but I'm going to sneak around some and double check," Priss said quietly over her radio.  
  
"That is affirmative, Blue. Check in fifteen minutes," Sylia responded.  
  
Linna looked over at Sylia and asked, "Is that wise?"  
  
Sylia looked back and then replied, "I'm actually surprised she didn't just start exploding things. More information isn't a bad idea."  
  
"And you want to know how they got a hold of a Bu-12b," Linna finished.  
  
Sylia stopped on the next rooftop and looked at Linna for a second or two. "Yes," she finally said.  
  
At that moment, the sky lit up and their communicators received the scream from Nene. Sylia turned and looked to the southeast.  
  
"An orbital attack," Sylia said.  
  
"What?" Linna cried out. She looked in the same direction that Sylia was looking. A glow illuminated all of the buildings briefly in shadows. A thundering boom washed over them both, as they listened to Nene telling them she was about to jump.  
  
"White Saber to backup. Prepare for dust off. Meet in front of the MegaTokyo General Hospital as soon as possible. Blue break off and meet us there," Sylia commanded into the communicator.  
  
"On my way!" Mackie said. He frantically started up the truck, heading out.  
  
A long pause.  
  
"Blue? Report in," Sylia called out louder.  
  
Another pause.  
  
"I'm on my way. Give me a few minutes." Priss finally responded with a very quiet edge. She was hugging the shadows, looking at the two passengers who got out of the truck. She squelched the desire to break a things. A lot of things. One of them was only a kid and somebody she recognized.  
  
Priss charged up her impact knuckle, charging the back exit of the truck. She vented her anger on the back of the truck and blew out the entire back end. She boosted out of the back and up to a roof top after hitting the street. She looked over her shoulder, seeing a N-Police cruiser turn around, heading back towards the truck.  
  
Her last angry thought was about Sho. What was he doing in there?  
  
-  
  
Nene woke up finally. It took a few minutes for her to figure out where she was. She looked around and couldn't see anything. She switched on her lights and looked around. Then she finally recalibrated the pressure sensors for under water depths. The murky depths did nothing to calm her down.  
  
"Fifty meters deep." Nene said as she scrabbled to her feet. She checked her internal location tracker and started to walk towards where she guessed Aqua City was. She checked her time. "I was out for ten minutes?" Nene muttered to herself.  
  
She finally broke the surface on the edge of Aqua City. Nene looked around and whistled. "And I thought this place was messed up before." She flicked off her lights and activated the low light sensors. She double checked her sensors to make sure it was safe enough to walk across.  
  
She started to walk, picking her way cautiously. "Such power. Why did they fire here? Or is it the fate of this place?" Nene mumbled to herself. She was about half way, when she heard a small cry for help. Nene double checked that. Nobody could survive this sort of destruction.  
  
Nene walked cautiously towards the sound. Eventually, she saw a burned figure laying on the ground. Nene gulped taking a step back.  
  
The burned figure managed to gurgle in English, "They are coming to kill me. I know that now."  
  
Nene gulped and looked around. "Who?"  
  
Maxim gasped loudly to get more air. "You aren't Polarion. Are you going to kill me?" Such pain, so much damage. She felt, more than understood, that she wouldn't be given the time to heal. Maybe if she was given a day or so, she would. But not the time it would take for the people who felt threatened by her.  
  
"You can call me Nene. I'm a Knight Saber," Nene said as she had to look away. Her bile was rising.  
  
"Knight Saber?" Meg managed to get out. A rasping breath and then she mumbled, "Can I trust her? Nobody knows about that." The pain was making her delirious.  
  
"Trust me? Knows what? Who is trying to kill you?" Nene asked again, looking anywhere but at the severely burned body.  
  
"Doesn't matter. Will you help?" Meg asked from ruined lips.  
  
"Uh, I... how?" Nene asked plaintively.  
  
"Come closer and put... hands on... head," Meg managed to gasp out. She was hurting so bad, could she do this? Meg didn't realize this, but even her body had limits. And she was very near them. She started to feel cold, a lassitude rising from the pain.  
  
Nene moved forward and cautiously reached out and touched her forehead. She did this out of pity. She hadn't seen people this burned before, but she guessed that she was dying. She started to pull her eyes away from her mangled face, when the eyes opened. They glowed with a bright blue fire.  
  
Nene screamed, as twin bolts of blue lightning struck her own eyes. It felt like she was on fire. She jerked and twisted. It ended just as abruptly as it started. Nene backed up quickly. She checked her suit's status and was relieved to find nothing wrong. What ever that had been, it hadn't hurt her. The body in front of her quit emitting any signs of life. All of a sudden, it caught on fire, consuming itself in blue fire. Nene backed away even further.  
  
"That was too strange," Nene said to herself. She really wanted to go home now. She decided that speed was better than caution. She started to calculate jumps that would get her to the access road.  
  
Leaps later, Nene was at the edge of the mass of metal that used to be Aqua City. The road was gone. A section over twelve hundred feet long was just gone. Nene popped out her hyper-sensors to trying to find some way to get to the road.  
  
-  
  
Leon looked around and was moderately surprised at the light number of casualties. Still limping from the gun shot wound, he made his rounds. Lots of wounded, but it could have been worse. He looked back to the man made island and thought he saw something on the edge of the road, where it used to connect to the island.  
  
A brilliant light flared from the south, about three hundred feet away, caught his attention. Rising out of the water, an incandescent sphere of pure energy floated with a figure within it.  
  
Polarion bellowed loudly, his voice filled with hatred, anger and pain. "The city and this nation shall be the throne that I will rule this world from. I shall carve it from the skulls of my betrayers and dance on their graves. No one does this to me and lives! No one! " With each utterance, the glow brightened, until when he finished, it was blinding. He raised his one good hand and released a massive wave of energy.  
  
Leon covered his eyes and looked away. When he looked back, there wasn't anybody there. "What was that all about?" Leon said to no one in particular. His eyes seemed to have trouble adapting.  
  
At least he thought so, until he realized that he could see the stars in the sky. Looking over the bay, he realized that there wasn't a single light on in kilometers. Just pitch blackness. "Somebody break out the flares." Leon whistled long and loud. How do you report something like this?  
  
-  
  
Nene also had a very good view of Polarion's declaration. She had too good of a view of the wreckage of the one side of his body. Her hardsuit was scrambled when he released his electro-magnetic pulse. It took about twenty seconds for her hardsuit to recover.  
  
"I really want to go home now!" Nene whined. Her hyper-sensor came back online. She had just spotted a couple of supports left from the bridge when he had started his tirade. She gauged carefully and decided that she could make it, if she was careful. Taking a deep breath, she leaped and bounded towards the remains of the bridge.  
  
She managed to make it to the bridge without too much of a problem. Fifty feet in front of her were the remains of the ADP. They had formed a quick skirmish line at pointed guns at the unfamiliar hardsuit. Red flares lit the scene with an ominous light.  
  
Nene stood there for a moment and then came to a decision. She brought herself up to an at attention pose and then saluted. Very carefully she lowered her hand, starting to walk towards the line of men.  
  
One of the officers yelled to Leon, "Do you want us to blow her away, Leon?"  
  
Leon sat there for a moment, making a tough decision. "I won't order you to. That's the Pink Saber's hardsuit under all that paint. So that is most likely Nene Romanov. At least according to our best estimate," he replied.  
  
A couple of the squad didn't know what to make of that, but the older field officers nodded and then put away their guns. They started to finish tending to the wounded. The rest followed suit. One of the older officers looked at Leon, then said, "Giles is going to have your badge."  
  
Leon replied, "Yeah, I know." He shrugged and walked over to the back of the truck to wait for evacuation vehicles to get there.  
  
Nene walked through the line starting to run towards the city. She popped her antennas out and called into the Knight Sabers. "Come in Knight Sabers, this is Red Saber. Are you out there?"  
  
Her radio squawked for a moment and Sylia's voice came on. "Status report, Red."  
  
"Well, I'm alive and mostly intact. The Knightwing is gone. I think it got clipped by the orbital bombardment. I'm almost to the end of the access road to Aqua City."  
  
"We'll pick you up in five minutes," Sylia replied.  
  
-  
  
Nene sighed, as she pulled off her helmet. Everyone else was already out of their hardsuits. Sylia was right there, checking on her bandages. Mackie stood in the back, waiting for Sylia to finish. Sylia very carefully unwrapped the bandages around Nene's head.  
  
Linna happened to look over her shoulder and gasped. "That's not possible!"  
  
Sylia looked up with an irritated glance. "She does seem to have healed quickly, doesn't she."  
  
"But even with the best surgeons, it still takes weeks to fully heal from plastic surgery. I, uh, looked into it a few times," Linna said in response to everyone's looks.  
  
"What's going on back there?" Priss yelled from the cab of the truck.  
  
"Never mind. Just get us back to base." Sylia started to very carefully poke and prod at Nene's face. She stopped for just a second. "I thought your eyes were supposed to be a very dark blue. From the dyes they were going to inject."  
  
"They are! He did say that they might turn back to my natural color in a few months," Nene replied.  
  
"They're a bright blue, right now," Linna said in bewilderment.  
  
Sylia continued to examine her. "Your wounds are almost finished healing." She paused. "And it looks like only minor scarring. You were very lucky."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. I thought I might have hurt my wounds when I hit the water." She breathed a sigh of relief. "So what do you think, Mackie?"  
  
"I definitely wouldn't recognize you. It's different. Not bad different though!" Mackie said quickly. Nene had always been cute, but now looked closer to pretty. Of course a lot of her 'cuteness' stemmed from the way she acted.  
  
"Thanks!" Nene struggled for a moment, then turned back to Sylia. "I've got some telemetry from my suit sensors. That should help a bit."  
  
"What does it show?" Sylia asked as she but away the medical kit.  
  
"Well, this really burned body that wanted some help. She died moments later. And the guy in some sort of costume. If it wasn't impossible, I'd swear he blacked out this area of town. Just by getting mad," Nene replied.  
  
"Boomer?" Sylia asked.  
  
"Nope, I checked for that. Totally human. Unless they can fool the suit's new sensors, he was human," Nene finished up. She stood up and walked over to where they stored the armor. She carefully got out. "Lots of strange magnetic fields."  
  
Sylia started to undress to get back into more normal clothes. Nene just gulped and looked over at Mackie. Sylia noticed and said calmly, "We're adults now, even Mackie. I wasn't going to wait until we got back to change."  
  
"Oh," Nene said faintly.  
  
"I'll be up in the front," Mackie said, as he headed towards the front.  
  
Linna snickered and then started to change.  
  
Nene looked over at Linna and retorted hotly, "I didn't see you changing before!"  
  
Linna just looked over and started laughing. "You can be so cute. You just have to be blushing."  
  
"I hate you guys some times," Nene muttered while she started to change, still blushing.  
  
-  
  
Priss stepped out of Sylia's private offices, walking past where Nene and Mackie sat. It was kind of cute, how they had fallen asleep leaning against each other. She stared for a moment and thought to check her watch. Almost four in the morning. "Hmm, home or couch? Ah, I'm not that tired."  
  
She took the elevator to the garage and drove home. She got off her bike and walked up to her door, stopping abruptly. Leon was sitting there on her steps, waiting for her.  
  
"Hello, Priss," Leon said pensively. He looked moderately terrible, cuts on his face and no sunglasses.  
  
"Hi, Leon. What are you doing here?" Priss asked, as she fished out her house key.  
  
"Oh, I just wanted to talk to you. And this was the only sure way I knew of getting in contact with you," Leon stated simply as he stood up.  
  
Priss opened her door, then waved him inside. "If it's about the hospital, I don't know what came over me." Leon wasn't acting normally.  
  
Leon glanced at her, then replied, "Hmm, oh, no. Nothing like that. I probably stepped over a line that I shouldn't have tonight. I'm probably going to be on at least suspension, if not worse."  
  
Priss looked at him, "What happened?"  
  
Leon grinned. "Oh, I had an opportunity to arrest one of the Knight Sabers and I had my troops back off and let her pass. I think it was the Pink Saber."  
  
"I thought you didn't get in trouble for things like that?" Priss asked as she grabbed a couple of beers, handing one to Leon. They both sat in her small living room.  
  
"Normally, yeah. But Giles wants to nail Nene so bad it's not funny. And you just can't keep something like that from Internal Affairs. Not in front of three squads," Leon replied after he took a sip.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So I just wanted to spend some time with you, before I get the bad news." Leon shrugged.  
  
"How's Daley?" Priss asked, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Oh, he's going to be all right. He's got a thick skull. He's already complaining about hospital food. I give him a week or two to get himself released."  
  
"Good! I liked Daley. So you just came over to talk?" Priss said.  
  
"Well, not just talk. I'm not dead yet. But that depends on what you want to do," Leon said with a small smile.  
  
"It does, doesn't it?" She reached up behind herself and turned off the lights.  
  
-  
  
"Yawn!" Nene said as she sat up in her bed. It took her a few moments to figure out how she got to bed. She vaguely remembered Mackie picking her up and carrying her to bed. That was sweet of him. After finishing the normal morning rituals, Nene headed up to the computer room.  
  
"Good morning, Mom!" Nene said as she activated the computers.  
  
"Good morning, Nene-chan. What have you done to your face?" her mothers voice came from speakers.  
  
"Just making it harder for Genom to find me. So how about a little hacking today? Now that you're in the computer, you can tag along," Nene piped up cheerfully. She took a sip of her tea.  
  
"Well, all right. Have you talked to your father?" she asked.  
  
"He didn't take to well to being a recording in a computer. He wished me to respect his death." Nene didn't mention that he was good enough to erase himself. He didn't get his backups, but the three times she'd tried to explain and talk to him had all ended the same way.  
  
"So what are we hacking?" Nene's mother asked.  
  
"I'm looking for a really good doctor who does cybernetics. And isn't too talkative. The types of cybernetics I'm looking for aren't very standard and requires special permits," Nene replied.  
  
"Is there any way I could go somewhere?" Nina Romanova asked suddenly.  
  
"Hmm, I don't think we have anything portable that you could walk around in." Nene scrunched her face in concentration. "Maybe a motoslave with an upgraded AI. I'll have to talk to Sylia about it." Or do what I was thinking of doing myself. Sylia wouldn't be happy. But I've still got my own money from her Knight Saber work to pay for it. And my own reasons.  
  
Nene was still at work hours later, when Mackie showed up. He popped his head and did a double take. "Oh, hello Nene. Have you seen Sylia?"  
  
"Nope, she usually does her office work in the mornings. She gives me the run of the computer room until noon or so." Nene replied. "I've got some errands to run later. Fake ID's, planting data, making a new me!"  
  
"Who is this young man, Nene?" her mother asked.  
  
Mackie looked around and asked, "Who was that?"  
  
"Mom, this is Mackie. He's handy to have around and really good at mechanics, robotics and artificial intelligence. Mackie, this is my mother, Nina, or at least a reasonable facsimile. She was recorded before her death. Sylia stole her, when she was trying to rescue my parents," Nene ended breathlessly.  
  
They gave a wary greetings to each other. Nene piped up, "So Mackie, are you going to go to college here or are you going back to Germany? You didn't say earlier."  
  
Mackie was pulled away from his desire to check on the AI running on the computer. "Um, I really wasn't planning on it. I've had a bad case of home sickness for a while. I'll probably get my own place in town though," Mackie replied. "I'm going over to Raven's today. And then to a couple of the universities to look at admission."  
  
"Ok then! I'm out of here. See you later. Maybe we can do dinner tonight, Mackie," Nene said as she started to shut down the system.  
  
"Nene, can you leave me active. I'd like to talk to this Sylia. She's an important person in your life." Nina's voice drifted from the speaker.  
  
Nene looked over to Mackie and then back to the camera. "Sure."  
  
-  
  
Nene came out of her doze and looked around. "So when do we start?" she asked the doctor.  
  
He looked at her and laughed. "Were done, young lady. One full cortical interface, installed as per your request. And high bandwidth computer interfaces and the mini-range radio. All very expensive, all very thoroughly double checked."  
  
"I don't feel any pain." Nene double checked her watch. "It's six o'clock! But I thought I'd feel different or at least feel something."  
  
The doctor led her hand to the interface jack, right at the base of the skull. "See, it's all there. Micro-surgery causes almost no tissue damage. But if you want, you can try to interface with a computer right now and start learning."  
  
"If you don't mind. I'd rather have a doctor handy when I try. Just in case." Nene carefully reached for a data jack and slowly plugged herself in. A rush of feelings bombarded her and slowly, ever so slowly, she began to interpret the signals in a meaningful manner.  
  
After about ten seconds she reached up and unplugged herself. "That was something else. You do some nice work doctor." Nene thought that she had been in there for at least ten minutes.  
  
"Of course! And you're paying me enough. Really, far too many people still hear horror stories of cyber-psychosis and immediately reject any thought implantation." The doctor started to go into his patient speech. "And of course, you need to train yourself on your new abilities. And for heavens sake, don't stay on long. It can lead to addiction."  
  
"Thank you, doctor. I'll recommend you to anyone who is in need of a discrete doctor." Nene bobbed as she backed out.  
  
"Whew, he's a little zealous. Oh, well, time to call a taxi and go home!" Nene said to herself.  
  
-  
  
Nene walked out of the elevator and just about crashed into Linna. "Hi, Linna. Are you feeling better?" Nene asked.  
  
"Well, how about I just say that I see the light at the end of the tunnel." Linna smiled. "And what have you been up to?"  
  
"Not much. Hello, Sylia!" Nene waved.  
  
"Would you mind warning me the next time you leave you mother active. I wasn't expecting to have a half hour conversation with her," Sylia said as she walked into the room.  
  
"I had to leave and I didn't know where you were," Nene replied defensively.  
  
"Really? So why did you do it?" Sylia asked.  
  
"It was her idea, of course. My mother is a very strong minded lady," Nene replied.  
  
"Her idea? She's adjusting to her condition pretty well then. I don't know if we can get her a boomer body that will work." Sylia sat down, a thoughtful expression on her face.  
  
"She wants a body?" Linna asked.  
  
"She's tired of being cooped up. My mother was very active," Nene said as she fished around in the fridge for some leftovers. Just to tide her over to dinner of course.  
  
"Fancy that. I wondered where you get your energy from. So are we having a meeting?" Linna asked.  
  
"Not a formal one. If Priss were here, maybe. The USSD is still trying to hire us. I would have thought that they would have been scared off by my demands. It actually worries me that they haven't," Sylia said in between sips of her drink.  
  
"So Nene, are you ready for your practice?" Linna asked.  
  
Nene quit rooting around in the fridge for something and stuck her head up. "Sure!"  
  
-  
  
Priss were getting her own exercise. She'd picked up Sho from the police station and then taken him to her place. They'd eaten and then they walked to the park near where they used to live. Sho had grown in the last couple of years, but he was still too young to be getting involved in gangs. And ruining his life in crime.  
  
Sho swung in the swing a bit and waited. He'd been dreading something ever since Priss had picked him up. Priss finally asked him, "So how long have you been in that gang?"  
  
Sho looked over. "Not long."  
  
"Why did you join them? It can't be much better than the orphanage."  
  
"They respect me. I'm not just a bother. I can earn my own way," Sho said hotly.  
  
"So you're a messenger. Are they going to keep you from getting shot?" Priss retorted just as hotly.  
  
"They don't treat me as a kid. And they're helping me get what I want."  
  
"And what's that?" Priss said. She clenched her fists. She reaffirmed her desire to never have kids.  
  
"Kill the bastard who killed my mom! And destroy Genom!" Sho yelled loudly.  
  
Priss just stared and then started to laugh. "You're a little late. Mason got his throat cut the same day that your mom died."  
  
Sho's face showed his surprise. "Who's Mason?"  
  
"Brian J. Mason. You don't remember him and his boomer? When I tried to help one of the neighbors who was getting pushed around, right outside your apartment. He had dark hair and the nice suit." She took a swing next to him.  
  
"So what about Genom? He just worked for them," Sho asked.  
  
"The same Genom that makes medicine? Genom is huge and it's not all evil, no matter how much we like to think it is," Priss said, more to herself. "Besides, what are you going to do to such a huge company?"  
  
"I'm going to make myself strong enough to tear Genom down. It's for Mom." Sho jumped to his feat. "You don't care, you just don't understand!"  
  
"Understand what? How to lose someone important to me? How to lose myself in revenge? How do you know that I don't know all of that?" Priss said through clenched teeth.  
  
"Who did you lose?" Sho yelled.  
  
"My boyfriend, my lover is what I lost. I lost a good friend who was your mother," Priss said staring at the ground. Count backwards from ten, Priss thought to herself. Calm down.  
  
"Didn't you want to do something?" Sho said loudly.  
  
"Sure. And I would have gotten myself killed. Somebody stopped me." Priss looked up. "Just like I'm trying to stop you from doing something stupid."  
  
"Sure, just like the cops try to help. Feed me another line of bull," Sho alleged hotly.  
  
Priss leaped to her feat. "Sho, listen to me. I promised myself that I'd keep you out of trouble. If I have to tie you up to get you to see some sense, I will."  
  
Sho flipped out a knife, "You'd better be willing to back that up. 'Cause I'm not going with you."  
  
"You and your knife, against Genom, huh?" Priss replied. Then she lunged forward, catching Sho by surprise. She kicked him in the gut and smacked the knife out of his hands. Using a judo grab, she slammed him down onto the hard ground.  
  
While he was sitting there trying to get his breath, she calmly put her gun together. She kneeled on top of him. "Bang, you just died trying to get your renege. How does it feel to have wasted your life?"  
  
Sho just glared at her. "What are you trying to prove?"  
  
"Prove? Nothing except that there is always somebody bigger than you. That there is always somebody better," Priss said in a low serious voice. "Mason's dead. Someone got to him before you. You don't have anybody to get your revenge on. So why are you wasting your life?"  
  
Sho started to sob.  
  
"Sho, your mom wanted you to have a good life. She wanted you to be a good kid. Don't disappoint her." Priss put her gun away, picking Sho up in a hug.  
  
"I miss Mom, Priss. Nobody is going to take me home," Sho sobbed as he hugged her back.  
  
"I'm here, Sho. Even if I can't take you home. A single woman can't adopt," Priss murmured to him. "I know, I tried."  
  
"Stupid laws. They never help people, just companies. Just like the cops," Sho burst out angrily.  
  
"Yeah, laws are pretty stupid. But they are trying to help. They're just trying to protect kids."  
  
"How come nobody ever told me that Mason was killed?"  
  
"You never asked me. I'd heard it was the White Knight Saber, or maybe the Blue Knight Saber. At least that's what the street says."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So, are you going to stay out of that gang?" Priss asked as she helped Sho up.  
  
"Yeah. Besides, you are one tough customer. I don't want to get on your bad side again." Sho was holding his stomach. Then he asked, "So where did you learn to do that?"  
  
"It was after the quake. A lot of gangs, a lot of homeless kids. It wasn't a good time to be growing up on the street. I ran into someone who got me off the streets," Priss answered. "Let's get out of here."  
  
-  
  
Dansk walked down the corridor and then into a heavily guarded room. It looked to be some sort of robotics laboratory. He walked in, glancing around. "Dr. Wu, how is our progress?" he asked one of the men working on a large machine.  
  
"It is going very well. The DD Battlemover was an innovation, unrealized. This is the finished product. It is vastly superior to anything currently available. Faster, stronger, smarter. The J1 control module learns not only the enemy's weakness, but how to help its pilot defeat any foe." Dr. Wu replied with a smile. "The DD-2c is a wonder of Genom superiority. It would easily defeat the 'Ginku' battlemover."  
  
"Good, so we'll be ready to ship it out tomorrow night?" Matio Dansk asked.  
  
"Of course."  
  
With that Dansk walked out and grabbed an elevator to a much lower level. He walked down the corridor, until it ended at a nondescript door. He ran through the locks and stepped into a radically different room. It had computer banks all around and large, strange devices. It had an operating room and a full cybernetics lab. In one corner lay a strange machine that looked like a chair with a head restraint.  
  
A group of doctors worked on a woman in the surgery. One of them noticed him and exited the room.  
  
"Mr. Dansk, everything is going according to your plan. The woman is being enhanced as you asked, with second hand parts. These cannot be traced back to us," the doctor said to him, squirming just a bit. "We are just finishing her optic system right now."  
  
"Good." He stared at her. "Everything is going according to plan. Soon, the Knight Sabers and the AD Police will be just a memory."  
  
Unknown to him, Naoko's new eyes worked perfectly. She saw the heavy set man in a reflection and remembered him. She couldn't move, but that didn't stop her from thinking, planning. She'd been tortured and then hooked up to a strange machine. And then they had started to maim her, making her a new body. It was an ugly thing, leaving just enough of her features to distinguish who she was.  
  
One of the doctors flashed a light into her eyes, blocking her sight. Naoko couldn't even whimper, as she felt another connection energize.  
  
-  
  
Nene crept through the darkness, easing open the door. She was clad in her shorts and a tee shirt. She carried a small bag. She sat herself down at the console and brought the computer to life. She started to scan the files she had found. It was several hours later when she finally finished her preparations. It was an unusual program. But there wasn't a program built that she couldn't use, given enough time.  
  
Nene opened up a panel and hooked up the computer interface. Then very carefully, she reached up and plugged herself in. She had been planning on doing this for a while. Ever since she had found the secreted copies of Sylia's personality and memories.  
  
Nene hadn't figured out how Sylia had done it. As far as she could tell, you had to have a direct neural link. They were considered some of the more dangerous enhancements that could be done. They had just barely been perfected to the level that was useful for this sort of operation. No pain, no gain had been her mantra. So where had she gotten them?  
  
It took careful planning and purchasing the right hardware and cyberware. Very carefully, she copied herself to the large computer. It was insurance for later.  
  
She then double checked her settings and calibrations, making one last change. And then very carefully, she started the program to download certain skills. She started to jerk and her head hurt horribly. She mentally gritted her teeth and continued. Images flashed through her head, in a dizzying blur of moments in time.  
  
Ten minutes later, she finished and disconnected. With shaking hands, she undid her hours of work and hid the access to files. She was almost done, when the lights clicked on.  
  
"What are you doing, Nene?" Sylia asked sleepily from the doorway. She was clad in her bathrobe and not much else.  
  
Nene blinked hard, as her eyes adjusted to the light. Nene took a deep breath and then answered, "I was using a program that I found. I just finished using it to get the same skills you have. Mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence, cybernetics and advanced robotics."  
  
Sylia blinked. That wasn't what she had been expecting to hear. "Why?" Her voice was all business suddenly. Anger started to ebb up from the depths of her soul.  
  
"I didn't want the Knight Saber to go under if you died. I figured that if I had the same skills that you had to design and repair the hardsuits, it wouldn't happen." Nene ducked her head. "I'd give everything for the Knight Sabers. Even if you died, we needed to go on. The ADP is hamstrung by bureaucrats, Genom is left free to run over little people. We're the only ones who make things right."  
  
"Why didn't you ask?" Sylia asked bluntly. She was very angry, but in a very cold manner.  
  
"I figured that you would tell me no," Nene said meekly.  
  
"I would have. That was very dangerous. Come outside and let's have a cup of tea."  
  
They both walked into the living room. Sylia made some tea and they both sat down on the sofa. Sylia sat for long moments trying to get in control of herself. She came to a decision which calmed her down.  
  
"Well, it's obviously too late to stop you. Did it work?" Sylia asked with much of the edge gone from her voice.  
  
Nene sat for a moment. "I think so. I have some ideas, but I don't have anything concrete to think about," Nene replied. She raised her hands to her temple, kneading it.  
  
Sylia took a deep breath and then asked a very detailed question about robotic musculature. She waited a moment while Nene answered. Sylia kept asking questions for ten minutes. Each question was an advanced thesis by itself.  
  
"I'm impressed." Sylia thought for a moment. "So what are you going to do?"  
  
"I was thinking about working on or buying an AI that I could load my mother into and then installing it in my motoslave." She thought for a moment. "That seems to be a lot simpler than I thought it would be."  
  
"It would, now. I've known how to do it for a while. And so do you now." Sylia stared off into space.  
  
"Why haven't you built a replacement body for yourself?" Nene had been dying to ask this for a week.  
  
"Because I didn't want to become a Largo. Could you imagine my intellect becoming as twisted as Largo's? He is not a truly creative entity. He used only items or ideas that were available," Sylia said quietly. "Though maybe it's the lure of immortality that drove him insane," She whispered.  
  
"But my mother hasn't turned into a monster!"  
  
"No, she hasn't. She seems to have adjusted to it fairly decently. Maybe I should look into it now." Sylia replied thoughtfully. "The ultimate insurance." A voice seemed to echo through her and she almost heard a voice say 'Reishya.'  
  
Sylia sat there for a very long moment. "And what happens if I decide to disband the Knight Sabers?"  
  
"Why? I mean, if there was a good reason, sure, why not? But there are so many reasons to keep the organization going. It's too important to depend on luck."  
  
"Perhaps, but are you willing to devote your entire life to it?" Nene studied the ground for a moment and then nodded. The sat there finishing their tea for a moment. "Well, if you are going to be my 'backup', you need to be acquainted with the machine shops better. Let me show you that area." And I need to think about this conundrum that has landed in my lap.  
  
They had just finished the tour up, when Mackie wandered out. Sylia was starting to make breakfast. "Good morning! What are you guys doing up so early?" Mackie asked as he glanced out at the rising sun.  
  
Nene yawned and then answered. "Just getting into things that I shouldn't have." She smiled impishly. "Are you feeling better? You were pretty quiet last night."  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm still jet lagged is all. Why?" Mackie replied.  
  
"So, Mackie. Would you like to go out and go shopping? Maybe catch a movie or go out and see the latest arcades?" Nene asked Mackie.  
  
"Sure. What about you Sylia?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Just business as normal."  
  
-  
  
Nene was laying around, idly waiting for Mackie to come back from the park vendor. The sun was shining, though it looked like it might rain later. They had been just about everywhere. The movies, shopping, apartment hunting. And now this park.  
  
'This is odd.' A voiced whispered from nowhere.  
  
Nene looked around. "Mackie?"  
  
'Who is Mackie? I feel very odd. As a matter of fact, who are you?'  
  
Nene was starting to become very scared. She hoped it wasn't some form of cyber-psychosis or a problem with the transference program. "I'm Nene," she stuttered.  
  
'Nene? Nene! The Knight Saber!' the voice replied. 'The person in the power armor! From Aqua City! The one I tried to transfer my powers to.'  
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" Nene wasn't sure what was scarier, talking to herself or talking to something in her head.  
  
'I was trying to transfer my powers into you. Not me into you. At least that's what I think happened.' The strange spoke again. 'I'm sorry, my name is Meg Jones. We met at that artificial island, where I asked you for help. I was dying and I tried to pass on my powers.'  
  
"And how am I supposed to know that you aren't a figment of my imagination?" Nene asked.  
  
'That... is a good question. Do you feel normal? Did anything unusual happen to you physically?' Meg asked.  
  
"Pretty normal." Nene was scared, now. Truly scared. She looked around and spotted Mackie.  
  
'That must be Mackie. I've got some thinking to do. Do you mind If I get in back to you later?' Meg asked silently to Nene. 'I'm tired suddenly.'  
  
Mackie sauntered up and then said, "Here's your ice cream cone. It's your favorite flavor too!"  
  
"Oh. Thanks Mackie."  
  
Mackie just looked at Nene strangely. Something had changed in her whole stance and demeanor. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Sure! Just getting used to you being here," Nene lied easily. She stood up and stretched. With a mischievous wink, she leaned over and gave Mackie a quick kiss. She laughed when he just stammered. "Cat got your tongue, Mackie?"  
  
"Nope." Mackie stood there for just moment and then leaned forward. He kissed Nene deeply. They broke up slowly.  
  
"Don't you think that's a little fast?" Nene inquired with a smile.  
  
"Nope. It seemed like the right thing to do. How about you?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Just the right thing," Nene agreed.  
  
-  
  
Linna sat on Sylia's couch, looking at a huge sheaf of papers. "Argh. I hate lawyers," Linna yelled out suddenly.  
  
Sylia looked up from where she was scanning some papers. "Lawyers aren't that bad."  
  
Priss walked in from the elevator and leaned up against the couch. "Hey, Sylia! Can I speak to you? It's about Leon."  
  
"Go ahead, Priss. What is up?" Sylia asked without looking up.  
  
"Leon is on suspension right now, but I figured maybe we could use him like we used to use Nene at the ADP," Priss said.  
  
Sylia looked at her in mild consternation. "I wasn't really planning on replacing our mole in the ADP. It would be too dangerous. For him and us."  
  
Priss stood still and then replied, "He already knows about me being a Knight Saber."  
  
Linna glanced quickly at both of them. "Uh, oh."  
  
Sylia started to get angry. Two in one day. Next she'd have Linna telling her she was pregnant. "When did you tell him?" Her voice had dropped back into her normal authoritarian mode.  
  
Priss took her cue from the abrupt voice change. "I didn't! I promise! He found out a long time ago. Back when we had our battle with Sylvie." God, she'd thought that pain would also go away.  
  
"How?" Sylia asked.  
  
"He was in the K-12 suit that got trashed. He, um, woke up long enough to see me without my helmet." Now she was getting upset. She was as much a part of the team as anyone else. Didn't anyone trust her?  
  
Sylia sat and cogitated for a few minutes. Linna held her breath, as Priss continued to build a head of steam.  
  
"Very well. I guess we can trust his discretion. If he knew who you were back then, he could have used that knowledge before now. Where is he?" Sylia replied in a softer tone.  
  
"Just down stairs. I thought I'd make him a bit uncomfortable. With my luck, he's probably hitting on your help," Priss said, slightly mollified.  
  
Leon wasn't quite hitting on any of the ladies, but he was admiring the view. When one of the workers walked up and asked Leon to follow her, he wasn't surprised.  
  
He started to get a bit suspicious when he ended up in an elevator. A light flickered and Leon instincts kicked in. That was a high security fast scan. Those weren't cheap nor standard. His hand crept over to his holster.  
  
The elevator opened suddenly and Leon blinked in surprise at a very posh penthouse. Priss and two women sat in what appeared to be a living room.  
  
"Come on in, Leon," Priss called out.  
  
Leon walked over and flopped down next to Priss.  
  
"Leon, this is Linna," Priss introduced him. Leon nodded. He remembered her from that time at the airport. "And this is Sylia."  
  
"It's good to finally meet you, Mr. McNichol," Sylia said, studying him.  
  
"Pleased to meet you," Leon said. Little alarm bells were going off somewhere in his head.  
  
"I have a job offer for you. The Knight Sabers could always use an inside source of information," Sylia said quietly. "I would like to hire you to fill a small void in our link to the ADP."  
  
Leon just stared for a moment. This was not what he had in mind when Priss mentioned a surprise. "I'm on suspension and I might be going to an inquiry. I'm not exactly in a very good position right now." Leon couldn't believe what was happening.  
  
"We'll have to see, of course. But you're a good cop. Maybe not the most honest, but you get the job done and you want to do the right thing. You know the streets. The Knight Sabers might not do what is technically the most legal in the world, but we also try to do the right thing," Sylia said with quiet determination. "I feel you would be an asset."  
  
"Of course. You guys have been helping for years. It's the least I could do. Besides, where else would I get to hang with four pretty women in hardsuits?" Leon quipped.  
  
Priss just slapped her head theatrically and groaned. Linna sniggered and even Sylia smiled slightly. "Welcome to the Knight Sabers, Leon." Priss reached over and slugged his arm painfully.  
  
-  
  
"Are you sure this is safe, Nene?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Sure. Why do you ask?" Nene replied from behind her dark blue motoslave.  
  
"I don't recall that you were ever that good at robotics. This is a fairly drastic change to your motoslave."  
  
"No sweat! It's something I've picked up recently," Nene replied.  
  
"You don't just pick up advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, Nene," Mackie said to her, as he worked on an adjustment.  
  
Nene poked her head over the top of the motoslave. "Don't worry. I've got it under control." Nene pouted a bit. "Or don't you trust me?"  
  
"Well, yes. This is just extreme, isn't it?" Mackie replied.  
  
"Not really. This is about the minimum for what will hold my Mom." Nene disappeared again behind the unit.  
  
"Ok then. Are you ready back there?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Just finishing up. Ready?" Nene asked as she hopped down from the lift.  
  
"Sure." Mackie backed up to the console sot that Nene could sit down.  
  
"Here we go!" Nene said as she typed in a few commands.  
  
Slowly lights started to glow and a familiar voice drifted from the motoslave. More accurately, the oversized boomer now. "Hello, Nene. And how are we doing today?"  
  
"Fine Mom. I figured you could use my motoslave as a body for a while," Nene said cheerfully.  
  
Nina looked around and took a few steps as Nene disconnected her. "Not exactly the most fashionable body, is it?" The motoslave looked around and then reached out and took Mackie's good hand. "It is good to really meet you, young man."  
  
Mackie was saved from answering when the intercom buzzed. "Mackie, Nene, we have a situation. It's down by the Genom tower that is being rebuilt. Combat boomers and what appears to be a battlemover. The ADP is outclassed and looks like it can't handle it. It's a war zone. Ready all of the motoslaves and all of the suits. Even yours Mackie," Sylia said from the upstairs console.  
  
Nene looked at Mackie. "No rest for the wicked, I guess," Nene smiled impishly.  
  
Mackie looked back with a wry grin. "It has to be real bad, if she's putting me in a hard suit."  
  
Nene replied very seriously, "I was really trying not to think about that."  
  
-  
  
Naoko was a prisoner in the machine. The battlemover strode around like it owned the area. The ADP hadn't stood a chance. The wreckage of several ADP police vehicles was strewn about, what could accurately be described as a battlefield. The battlemover and the boomers had spread out, starting to destroy the construction site. It was a very motley looking group. Several Bu-55b's, a couple of Bu-12b's and many construction boomers that looked like they had been modified. And the larger battlemover, bristling with weapons.  
  
One of the Bu-55b's noticed a group of motorcycles headed towards them. It zoomed in with telephoto optics and opened fire on the Knight Sabers with its mouth cannon. The three motorcycles split up and began their attack runs. Priss weaved back and forth, opening fire with a rocket launcher. The boomer tried to avoid getting hit, but the missile homed in and destroyed it.  
  
Sylia and Linna had already morphed their motoslaves into the giant armored exoskeletons. Flying through the air, the started to pick off the weaker boomers. That is until the battlemover joined the fight. Things turned ugly almost immediately.  
  
It opened up its main machine gun, taking out Priss's motoslave's tires and nearly took out Priss. Priss skidded across the ground, leaving a trail of sparks. Sylia veered and ducked, avoiding a spray of unguided missiles. Linna was starting to have problems with two remaining Bu-12b's. They had her trapped in a crossfire, slowly working to take her cover away.  
  
"Son of a bitch. That thing packs a wallop," Priss said as she shook her head. "Get up and get back to work, stupid," she ordered her motoslave. And with that she stood up herself and charged one of the Bu-12b's. She managed to avoid getting shot, getting a good shot off with one of her shoulder cannons. It scored a deep strike, but did not destroy the boomer. Behind her you could see the motoslave stand up and start to fire on the refitted construction boomers.  
  
Nene had finally got into position, looking out over the entire area. Two full squads of ADP officers were down. It just about broke her heart. Mackie had also gotten into position and scanned the area. Mackie blinked a moment at his displays and then asked, "Is that threat analysis correct? It can't be higher than a hyper-boomer, can it?"  
  
"The DD battlemover? It sure can." Nene studied the area and then set up countermeasures. She blanketed the entire area in a haze of electronic static. "Mackie, take out the one on the right, the Bu-12b. They are going to be focused on me for a little while."  
  
"Roger. Incoming, Blue,"Mackie said, as he fired his bazooka. The boomer sensed it at the last moment and tried to duck. A resounding explosion rocked that area. When the dust cleared the bu-12b was standing, barely. Priss charged it and with a leap, cut it's head off with her suddenly extended rapier blades.  
  
Nene wasn't exaggerating, most of the combat boomers that were left focused on her. She was doing everything in her power to avoid getting shot, staying just one step ahead of the increasingly dangerous fire. She stifled a cry of panic and moved for more cover.  
  
Sylia was in one of her most desperate fights ever. In pure brawn, the battlemover was superior to her motoslave. With a grace one wouldn't have believed in a mecha so large, it avoided her new plasma cannon. On the other hand, it hadn't managed to score a good strike against Sylia's motoslave either. It seemed to be a stalemate.  
  
But stalemates rarely last long on the battlefield. Sylia used the same pattern to duck one time to many and was bracketed by its rapid fire guns. The motoslave's armor started to shred under the onslaught.  
  
In a desperate move, she swung the large cannon towards the battlemover. She feinted and then fired towards where she figured it would leap. Even so, she still nearly missed, only grazing one of its legs. The battlemover landed hard, but turned back towards her. It suddenly leaped to the side, ducking a huge blast from Priss's motoslave. It spun around, firing a volley of missiles.  
  
The red motoslave wasn't nearly as maneuverable when it didn't have its pilot. It ended a fiery death, exploding violently. "Oh, man. My bike!" Priss yelled from across the battle field.  
  
"Worry about it later, Blue. Right now we're doing good to keep ourselves alive. Most of the secondary targets are down. Keeps its attention split up and divide its fire," Sylia said over the communicator as she retreated.  
  
Nene had ducked behind a mound of debris and took a moment to catch her breath. Popping the top of her helmet over the debris, she activated her hyper-sensors. They were incredibly accurate and able to process amazing amounts of data during combat. Few systems even came close to it. She started to direct feed data to the rest of the Knight Sabers. After Linna finished the last construction boomer, Nene focused on the battlemover.  
  
"No micro-fusion bomb, it appears to be safe to destroy the battlemover." Nene studied it closer. "The pilot is not linked into or using the hand controls." Why would you put a pilot in there and then not let them do anything? She focused in deeper and then sent a visual of the control schematics to Sylia.  
  
"What is that Red?" Sylia asked as she ducked. "It looked like an advanced artificial intelligence control mechanism. It's very similar to the motoslave in many ways."  
  
"I think the pilot might be a hostage or a human shield. She hasn't done anything in there and the AI seems to be doing all of the work. I'm going to try and get an internal visual of the pilot."  
  
"Do you mind hurrying? This thing hasn't stopped shooting at us!" Linna yelled from the side, as she ducked a barrage of bullets.  
  
"It's Naoko! She disappeared the same night that Mac... other people I knew were attacked." Nene ducked back down, as the large mecha swung around in her direction.  
  
"We might not be able to save her. Unless someone has a plan? Holding back is going to get us killed." Sylia leaped behind the remains of a crane. The crane immediately was engulfed in a slew of missiles that lit up the area. Sylia kept moving, dodging as best as possible.  
  
"My pulse strikers should disable it, at least temporarily. But I'm going to have to get really close. The battlemover is very heavily shielded. Back off from it for a moment." Nene sent some hectic commands to her motoslave. It came bounding over some low wreckage and configured to become a large battle armor. Nene leaped forward and synced herself in.  
  
Nina said to Nene over the internal com. "Is this wise?"  
  
"Not really. But she's being used because of me. So it's my choice," Nene said with finality, working as fervently as she could to avoid becoming a pin cushion. Nina started to get hit as they charged, but nothing serious.  
  
"Ouch!" Nina said.  
  
"Sorry," Nene replied. All of a sudden she leaped forward and landed on the back of the battlemover. "Hold on!" She ordered her motoslave and then disengaged herself to grab a hold by herself. Her shoulder shields lifted up and started to charge with agonizing slowness. The battlemover bucked around and reached up to grab the motoslave. With a wrench, it twisted the smaller mecha around, slamming it into the concrete hard enough to shatter the ground. "Finally!" Nene muttered as she fired.  
  
"Red, don't fire while your grounded to the battlemover... " Sylia called out just as Nene fired her shot. Electricity arced from the weapons, striking the battlemover which spasmed in mechanical agony. Lightning seemed to crawl over the both of them. Nene let out a scream, her nerves on fire. She fell to the ground and lay as still as the DD battlemover.  
  
The battlefield finally quieted. Creaking metal and fire were the only sound to be heard for several seconds.  
  
"Mackie, get down there and get her out. Blue, you get the pilot out. Green, prepare to fire on my mark," Sylia barked out her orders authoratively. Everyone fell into action. Mackie cradled Nene in his arms and jogged out of the way. Nene's motoslave managed to drag itself off and followed Mackie, limping slowly. One of its arms dangled uselessly.  
  
Priss charged in and managed to pry open the front of the pilot's compartment with a combination of brawn and cutting. She retracted her blade and reached in and grabbed the limp form. Priss hauled her off to the side, just as the battlemover started to raise itself sluggishly. Its weapons started to track.  
  
"Fire!" Sylia and Linna opened up with their motoslave's large weapons. They both thundered for several seconds. One of Sylia's shots managed to hit the open cockpit. With a thundering explosion, the new DD Battlemover ceased to exist in any recognizable form.  
  
-  
  
Matio Dansk watched the carnage from his view screen. "Was that a satisfactory test?" The image stabilized, as the jamming quit.  
  
Quincy was on smaller screen. "It is satisfactory. The tally should be enough to show that the new DD battlemover will be the weapon of choice, for the future. After all it had no trouble with the three K-17's, a K-12 and two full squads of the ADP." He paused as if thinking. "The damage should be enough to get us some support on anti-terrorism in the government. After all, we can't have people with those capabilities on Japanese soil, can we? And Genom was merely the target of unwarranted attacks."  
  
Dansk replied, "Just as you planned, of course. It was unfortunate that none of the Knight Sabers look to have been seriously injured. The true genius was taking that ADP officer and linking her into part of the AGF. This will weaken the ADP even further and allow us to take them over. It wouldn't take us much work to fix their image problem then."  
  
"Unless she is allowed to testify, of course," Katherine Madigan said from where she stood leaning up against the wall.  
  
"She won't. I've made sure of that. After all, she's not even human any more." Matio Dansk laughed. "A law that was made to help the ADP. A law that will now be the means of its destruction."  
  
Katherine just watched and then replied very calmly, "We'll see then, won't we?"  
  
Something about her calm demeanor set Dansk on edge. He turned back to the screen as the red and black Knight Saber staggered to her feet. He held his anger in check. He knew who was in that suit.  
  
Quincey said from the small screen, "Yes, we shall."  
  
Matio gulped, dabbing his forehead with a cloth.  
  
-  
  
"Oh, did anyone get the number of that truck? Or was it a train?" Nene finally managed to say weakly.  
  
"You were very lucky, young lady," Sylia said. "You almost fried yourself with that stunt. You were lucky that your suit managed to protect you from the worst of that jolt."  
  
"I thought that weapon only worked on boomers? All it would do is stun a person?" Linna asked.  
  
"Nene got some added cyberware. Mostly to improve her hacking ability. She added a direct neural tap. That was the exact sort of system that the pulse strikers were designed in mind to destroy," Sylia responded, lying about why Nene had gotten the cyberware.  
  
Priss wrinkled her nose. "You went and made yourself a cyborg?" Revulsion was evident in her voice. Behind Priss, Sylia could see the ADP reinforcements and ambulances arriving. She could also see a news crew setting up. The cameras were set up in mere moments.  
  
"I am not a boomeroid!" Nene said hotly. She staggered a bit. "Can I sit down for a second?" Sylia nodded.  
  
Naoko had finally gotten herself together and stood up. "Thank you for rescuing me," she said, trying to avoid looking at her hands or arms.  
  
Sylia looked around. "Your welcome." Looking around she said. "It looks like all of the motoslave's need repair. Except for yours." Sylia pointed at Priss's motoslave, which was a flaming heap on the ground.  
  
"What can I say? It was a tough fight." Priss shrugged theatrically.  
  
Linna felt a creeping feeling rise up her back. She glanced over her shoulder.  
  
A voice over a bullhorn yelled out suddenly! "Surrender and lay down your arms. You vigilantes are finished!"  
  
The ADP squad had spread out and formed a skirmish line. The lead man again raised the bullhorn. "Naoko Fuchi, you are under arrest for terrorist activities and the deaths caused today. White Knight Saber, you are under arrest for the murder of Brian Mason. Nene Romanov you are also under arrest for misconduct and spying on a government agency. The rest of you are accessories to their crimes. Surrender now!"  
  
A K-17 hardsuit lumbered up and pointed its gun at the group. "Naoko scans as eighty percent boomer." The Knight Sabers had spread out a bit, prepared to leap at a moments notice.  
  
Neil glanced to the side. "We won't have to worry about processing anything then. Prepare to fire on my mark." Naoko stood by herself, frozen in the spotlights.  
  
"No!" Nene staggered in between the ADP and Naoko. "You can't just kill her!" Nene vainly tried to activate her electro-shield. Sparks crackled and then sputtered out. Nene's mouth dried up and her stomach tightened. She considered leaping, but knew she would be leaving Naoko to die. Panic almost gripped her, but she stood rock solid still. She wouldn't abandon anyone. She would not fail anyone ever again.  
  
"Don't make yourself into an accessory to another crime, Nene Romanov. On my mark! Ready..." Neil Brandon yelled loudly enough for everyone to hear.  
  
"Aim!" Sylia called out loudly, bringing her main weapon up. The other Knight Sabers followed suit, pointing their weapons at the ADP. The ADP officers started and tracked their weapons to new targets.  
  
Long moments passed, as the stand off continued. "You won't fire on us, Knight Saber," Neil Brandon said finally.  
  
"Naoko is being used. We will not allow you to kill her," Sylia said loudly, her motoslave's gun never wavering.  
  
"Used? She led this attack and left the terrorist demands that Genom be disbanded or more lives would be lost. She's part of the Anti Genom Force," Neil Brandon yelled out, not using the bullhorn this time.  
  
"She was a prisoner in that battlemover. Prisoners do not make demands and they don't lead terrorists," Sylia replied coldly. "She hasn't made a threatening move since you arrived."  
  
Beads of sweat showed on the ADP officer. "We don't have any proof of that. Just your word."  
  
"Of course. Just our word and our actions. We have always helped the ADP with boomer rampages. Why would we lie?" Sylia responded.  
  
"Stinking mercenaries! Ready! Aim!" Brandon yelled down the line. The rest of the officers didn't look so certain. He opened his mouth to order them to fire.  
  
"No! I won't fire on people that are just protecting a possible innocent!" This came over the speaker of the K-17. "If she was berserk or preparing to fight, maybe. She doesn't even have a gun." As if on cue, the others raised their weapons from ready.  
  
"Are you disobeying a direct order?!" Brandon yelled at the K-17.  
  
"Yes, sir. I signed up to serve the public. I won't kill a possible innocent!" A murmur of support went through the ranks. "And the Knight Sabers have helped the city and us for years. Hell, they just finished helping us!"  
  
"So you would back spies? Terrorists? Murderers?" Brandon raised his own rifle and then barked out his last order. "Fire!" A couple men on the unit followed suit, opening fire on Nene and Naoko. Nene tried again to raise her force field, with sparks being the only response again. The small arms started to leave marks and dents in her hardsuit. A couple of shots got through, wounding Naoko. She cried out, spinning onto the ground.  
  
"Cover fire, don't shoot any of them. Disrupt their shots, let's do a hot extraction!" Sylia cried out. She opened fire in front of the troopers, knocking several off their feet with the huge blast. Linna and Priss responded by opening fire in front of the line, scattering the troopers. Mackie pointed his gun at one of the ADP copters and gave it a warning shot that took out part of the new tower behind it. It took the hint and left the area.  
  
Nene turned around and reached down and picked up Naoko. Cradling her protectively, Nene boosted herself behind some debris. Nina met up and at Nene's command transformed into a sleek motorcycle. Nene hopped on, taking off, still holding Naoko.  
  
Priss and Mackie took off, boost jumping when needed. Linna and Sylia kept up the covering fire, both taking off at the last moment. They transformed their motoslaves into motorcycles and left before the ADP could move to get a decent shot off at them.  
  
Everyone met up at the truck and piled in. Sylia leaped off of her bike and looked over at Priss. "Priss, take my motoslave and run interference and keep the ADP from following the van. Try not to get spotted. If you need help, Linna will be on backup." Sylia took a deep breath. "Nene, run a scan on our guest. We need to make sure she has no tracers or other surveillance devices. How bad is she?" The truck started up, driving back to base.  
  
"It looks pretty bad. The only thing holding her together is her cybernetics. Life signs are falling, most of her life support systems are crashing. We're going to have to try and repair her systems now," Nene said as she ran her sensors. "She'll never make it back to base."  
  
"No tracers?" Sylia asked again, hands on the side of her helmet. Nene shook her head. Sylia popped her helmet off and detached her gauntlets. Mackie was already out of his suit and prepping a repair kit. Nene reached into a compartment, grabbing the emergency surgery kit.  
  
Linna watched in amazement as the three worked together to save the life of Naoko. Nene was still doing her job of support, using her sensors to target which systems needed to be repaired first. Mackie and Sylia used either tools or knives to open her up and work to repair her systems. It was an incredible sight.  
  
An agonizing ten minutes later, they had her stabilized.  
  
Nene popped her helmet off and looked over at Sylia. "Thanks for backing me up there," Nene said softly.  
  
"If I didn't, why would you follow me? Loyalty works both ways." Sylia said softly, as she wiped her hands off. Red mixed with the strange yellow fluids that composed many of the internal systems of the boomeroid.  
  
Linna piped up from where she sat, holding her helmet. "That has to be the bravest thing I've ever seen you do, Nene. Usually you're screaming and kicking, unless you totally outclass your opponent."  
  
Nene just smiled wanly. "I didn't feel very brave. My heart just about stopped when my force field didn't work."  
  
Sylia had just finished getting out of her hardsuit. "Bravery is not about not knowing fear. It is overcoming it, conquering it. The sort of bravery without fear is better known as foolishness." Sylia tossed the towel over to Mackie who also needed to clean his hands off.  
  
Sylia looked over at Mackie and then said to him. "You need to paint your suit. I think I used your name once. No one heard it, I think, but we can't trust that will happen every time."  
  
Mackie smiled and replied, "I've been thinking of a dark purple actually."  
  
-  
  
Leon sat up as the Knight Sabers truck pulled into its bay. Priss pulled up on the bright blue motoslave. The side door opened and Sylia and Linna struggled a bit to carry the comatose form of Naoko out of the truck.  
  
"You guys don't pull your punches much, do you Sylia? That was some show you guys put on," Leon said, as he leaned up against a support beam.  
  
Priss took her helmet off and groaned. "Oh, great. We try to avoid being recorded. It makes it harder to tell what we can do and what we look like."  
  
"How public, Leon?" Sylia asked.  
  
"CNN MegaTokyo. They're running it right now. Officer Neil Brandon doesn't look too happy. All of the local and online news stations are doing 'in depth' investigations. Maybe it's not such a bad time to be on suspension!" Leon smirked.  
  
Linna just glared at him. "Could we get a hand? She's heavy."  
  
Leon walked over and helped carry Naoko to the medical unit. "She's really messed up. Poor kid. To be dragged into this war."  
  
Sylia sat there thinking as she studied Naoko. "She wasn't supposed to live. Some one framed her and then set it up so that the ADP would kill her."  
  
Leon sat for a moment. "Yeah, I saw that. Brandon looked like a real thug. Makes the ADP look bad."  
  
Sylia sat looking at Leon, a small smile growing on her lips. "Maybe we just need the right person to be her advocate."  
  
Leon looked behind him for a moment. "Who, me?"  
  
"First off, we need to get Naoko fixed up and looking less like a boomer. Then you, Leon, are going to take her into police protective custody. Somebody is trying to hide something. Let's try to uncover what it is," Sylia stated. "I'll get in touch with you in a few days, Leon. Try to get back on the force as soon as possible."  
  
"You don't ask for much, do you?" Leon asked curiously.  
  
Linna smiled. "Ah, poor baby!"  
  
Nene smiled with everyone else, until a voice spoke up again. 'What's so funny?' Nene's face fell. It couldn't be, that was just her imagination. 'I'm not your imagination. I'm Meg, remember?'  
  
'What sort of armor is Priss wearing?' the strange voice asked.  
  
Nene followed the conversation between Priss and Sylia. She desperately tried to ignore the quiet voice in her head.  
  
'Look, I didn't mean this to happen. I'm really sorry, but you're not helping here.' Meg's voice wouldn't go away. Mackie looked over at Nene inquisitively.  
  
"Are you all right, Nene?" Mackie asked, concern evident on his face.  
  
"Sure!" Nene forced out louder than she meant too. Sylia and Leon glanced over.  
  
'Priss is a Knight Saber? What are the odds of me running into a Knight Saber in her civilian clothes? Then again, the life of a super-heroine is one big coincidence.' Meg asked Nene, 'Nene, can you hear me? Nene? Please, don't ignore me! I'm almost a ghost here,' Meg started to plead.  
  
"Shut up! Just shut up! Get out of my head!" Nene screamed suddenly. Grabbing her head, she rushed out of the room. Everyone stopped and stared at the door Nene had just went through.  
  
Leon looked around and then asked innocently, "What was that all about?"  
  
Linna looked at Priss and they both replied, "I don't know."  
  
Sylia continued to look at the door. "I may. I hope it isn't. But I may know."  
  
Mackie just looked worried.  
  
-  
  
The scene, a darkened room, back lit with glowing lights. A figure sat at a huge control console, his helmet laying by his side. The right half of his face was covered in metal. The eye on that side glowed with an eerie red radiance.  
  
Polarion stood up and walked over to the windows. They overlooked a large warehouse. Out in the warehouse, boomers moved back and worth. A few human technicians over saw the entire construction. Six odd devices, three stories tall were being built. They loomed over everything, standing like pillars or rockets of some sort. Strange exotic ports, conduits and powerful generators were packed into the devices. Each one was the size of a small building.  
  
"Soon. A week or so at the most. And then this world will grovel beneath my heal. And the people who betrayed me will be crucified for their idiocy," Polarion said beneath his breath. The lights flickered and he focused to bring himself back in control. "Control, Dirk. Control is the most important thing. Control will bring you to your destiny. Control is your destiny."  
  
The lights stopped flickering. A deep voiced laughter filtered down to the workers below.  
  
-  
  
'I'm really sorry. You aren't going insane.'  
  
"Yeah, right." Nene said a she sat huddled on the center of her bed. 'I'm going insane. Cyber psychosis is setting in already,' Nene thought to herself.  
  
'You have cybernetics?' Meg asked. 'You look normal.'  
  
'Neural interface. A dangerous direct access to the brain,' Nene replied silently.  
  
'Oh. And you think it might be causing problems?' Meg asked.  
  
'It's totally normal to have an extra voice in your head. Right?' Nene shouted silently. Her face scrunched up.  
  
The voice was silent for a while. When it came back, it startled Nene. 'Ask Priss what I ordered at Yoshi's that day that I met her for lunch. I offered to take her shopping, but she said she'd been paged,' Meg finally said. 'If I was a figment of your imagination, she wouldn't know who I was. Or what I had done.'  
  
'Yeah, sure. Like they don't think I'm nuts already,' Nene thought to herself.  
  
Nene's door opened and Sylia walked in. She sat down and just waited for Nene to say something. The wait lasted minutes.  
  
"I think I'm going insane, Sylia. And it terrifies me."  
  
"You think you are suffering from cyber-psychosis?" Sylia replied calmly.  
  
"I can't be sure. She says that she knows Priss. She's even got her own name. She calls herself 'Meg'. I'm so scared," Nene said.  
  
"Meg Jones?" Sylia's surprise was very evident. "That's our mysterious transmuter."  
  
"No. It couldn't be." Nene looked up, hope in her eyes.  
  
'Transmuter? How does she know about that,' Meg interrupted, aghast. 'That's one thing I try to never let people know I can do.'  
  
"Yes, that was the name that Priss gave me. You remember the ball point pen made of gold? The one that was too pure?" Sylia rubbed her chin, thinking hard.  
  
'She's the brain of your group, isn't she?' Meg asked Nene silently.  
  
'Yes, she is.' Nene responded silently.  
  
'Most of my powers were based on a hyper-dimensional extensions of my life force. In many ways, I was an energy being that happened to be connected to a physical three dimensional host. At least that how Blackbird described it to me one time.' Meg said.  
  
"Um, Sylia, Meg says that she's some sort of energy creature that just happens to be connected to a physical host." Nene couldn't believe she was going along with this.  
  
"Able to manipulate tachyons and energy fields?" Sylia said, trying to catch her in an error.  
  
'No, gravitons and energy/mass. Matter is a static form of energy, I guess. At least that's what I was told,' Meg said. Nene relayed it aloud to Sylia.  
  
"Hmm. Let's take you down to the medical unit and check your EKG's and mental wave patterns." If she really was an aberration of Nene's psyche, she wouldn't show up at all.  
  
After about ten minutes, Sylia had Nene connected up to the analyzer. She ran through some basic mental exercises, trying to spot anything abnormal. "Your clean, as far as I can tell. There does appear to be some minor burnout in your new cybernetics. Easily repaired." Sylia said. Something nagged at her. There should have been brain damage with that.  
  
"Oh, good!" Nene said.  
  
One of the monitor lines spiked, as Meg spoke silently, 'So I'm not really a part of your mind?'  
  
Sylia studied her. "That was your auditory neural area. Did you just hear her again?"  
  
Nene nodded.  
  
Sylia reached around and plugged the computer into Nene's cybernetic jack. "Have her continue to talk please." Sylia started to type in commands, bringing up old decoders for artificial intelligence designs. Strange sounds started to emerge from the computer, slowly resolving itself into a female voice, speaking American English, with a distinctly southern accent.  
  
"That didn't take long!" Meg exclaimed.  
  
"Hello, Meg. Would you mind explaining how you came to be attached to Nene?" Sylia asked in passable English.  
  
"I attempted to pass my powers on when it looked like I was going to be killed. My powers were originally given to me through a similar process. I guess I transferred myself with my powers," Meg's voice drifted out of the speaker.  
  
"And what powers did you have?" Sylia asked. This was absolutely fascinating. It was almost magical, but seemed to be rooted in incredibly advanced sciences.  
  
"Regeneration, energy blasts, transmutation, force fields and gravity manipulation," Meg responded.  
  
"I don't have any of those powers!" Nene exclaimed.  
  
"You healed very fast, Nene." Sylia replied.  
  
"Only that one time!" Nene said.  
  
"And the partial burnout of your neural cyberware? That could have, should have, caused irreparable brain damage. And yet you recovered within minutes. We can test it easily enough." Sylia held up a surgical knife. Nene gulped and just about fainted.  
  
"Close your eyes, Nene," Sylia said and then with a quick swipe, cut the skin on her arm.  
  
Nene yelped out a cry of pain. "You didn't warn me!" Nene accused Sylia.  
  
"It would have just prolonged your anticipation." Very carefully, she bandaged the wound and then took the bandage off. Wiping the wound off, she looked on in consternation as the wound healed. In a few moments, it had started to scar up.  
  
"That wasn't very fast!" Meg said through the speakers.  
  
"Fast enough. Amazing," Sylia said. Disconnecting her from the computers, Sylia dragged Nene to her lab and sat her in front of an odd apparatus.  
  
Sylia sat at a computer and reached over and put on a set of headphones. She started to recalibrate her machines to scan for unusual energies. Normally, they were used checking the hardsuits for damage or flaws. But they were of sufficient sensitivity for other work.  
  
Nene sat there, absently scratching her cut. In minutes it had totally healed. An odd buzzing was disturbing her. Nene focused on it and understanding dawned. She concentrated on deciphering the data and realized that she was accidentally receiving Sylia's interfacing with a computer.  
  
"Sylia, I'm, um, getting some noise from whatever you are doing," Nene said quietly.  
  
The flow of information slowed for second. 'You had a short range radio put in, didn't you?' Sylia's voice drifted across the radio cyber link.  
  
'Yes. Oh, wow! You have a neural link? I had wondered how you managed to do that,' Nene said, as she interfaced with the computer and Sylia. She tagged along, watching in awe as Sylia worked. 'Would you like some help?' Nene asked.  
  
'Go ahead. Just don't get in my way, if you can help it,' Sylia responded. She hadn't expected this.  
  
Different scanners and sensors activating, looking in and through Nene. For just a second, they both thought they saw an image of a girl, superimposed over Nene.  
  
'Aieeeee!' Meg screamed and then was silent.  
  
'Sylia, I don't feel her anymore. Did we just hurt her?' Nene asked.  
  
Sylia deactivated the scanner that had caused the problem. 'Can you hear her anymore?'  
  
"No." Nene said aloud. "But she's not there all the time. She gets tired."  
  
Sylia reached up and took off the head phones. "Well, I'm convinced that this wasn't a case of cyber-psychosis. There was something there. I'll have to build some specific devices to test further."  
  
"You don't know what happened, do you?" Nene said.  
  
"No, Nene, I really don't understand how this is possible. At least not yet. Hopefully, we didn't do anything to permanently damage to her," Sylia said. But I will figure it out, Sylia promised herself.  
  
Nene stretched and then asked Sylia, "So where is everybody?"  
  
"I had Priss take them out to eat. If you want, we can try to catch up," Sylia said while standing up.  
  
"Food? Sure." Nene stood up and dashed off to change. Relief had regained her appetite.  
  
-  
  
Leon looked across at the table. "So what do the rest of you guys do?"  
  
Linna looked up from her menu. "I'm a office assistant. I'm thinking about a different career, though."  
  
Mackie said with out looking up, "Oh, I'm just a student. I'm going to be going to MegaTokyo University. Priss is the glamorous one."  
  
"Hey, I know. Priss's number one fan, that's me!" Leon said smiling. Priss kicked him under the table. "So this is only a part time job?" Leon ignored the kick.  
  
"Yep. After all, we are supposed to have some sort of normal life." Mackie said. "I'm planning on being a scientist like my dad. Though I think my sister is smarter than I am."  
  
Leon slipped his glasses off and glanced around the room. "Who's your dad?"  
  
Mackie just stared at Leon for a moment. "You don't know? I'd have thought you would know the name of the man who invented the boomer."  
  
"Stingray? Sure. You're his kid? I didn't know he had any kids." Leon just looked over at him in surprise.  
  
Leon spotted Sylia and Nene walking into the front of the restaurant in a reflection. "Looks like your sister and Nene just got here. Any idea about what happened?"  
  
"Cyber-psychosis. Some people can't cope." Priss said.  
  
"Priss! I can't believe you sometimes. Nene's doing her best for the team and you're ragging on her." Linna glared at Priss.  
  
"Oh? Well it was her choice. She's either going to tough it out, or she's going to sink," Priss replied with calm indifference and a toss of her head.  
  
"Yeah. Sink or swim. I've known some officers that got replacement parts. It's really tough ride," Leon said softly, surprising everyone.  
  
Nene and Sylia walked up. Sylia sat next to Priss, while Nene waited for Leon to stand up so she could sit next to Mackie. Leon pretended to ignore her. "Leon, do you mind. I'd like to sit by Mackie." She poked him with a finger.  
  
"No need to get pushy! I'm moving already." Nene moved out of the way and then watched him suspiciously. She slid in next to Mackie. Nene squeezed his hand and then looked over to Sylia.  
  
"Luckily, Nene doesn't appear to be suffering from cyber-psychosis. We've determined the external source of her distress and we'll be working on a solution." Sylia said over her menu. Mackie looked quite relieved. Nene felt an odd feeling of comfort when she saw that.  
  
"Leon, it wouldn't be odd for you to take a side job right now. I'd like you to hit the streets to figure out how the Golden Curtain got a combat boomer. Priss and Linna will be working with you. Nene, Mackie and I will be working on repairs and getting Priss's new motoslave made. We've got a busy couple of days," Sylia said a she put down the menu.  
  
"It's been busy these last couple of weeks. Any idea why?" Linna asked.  
  
"No, not really. Genom's politics can be murky at the best of times. No one truly knows why Genom does some of their extra legal operations. We should try to find out." Sylia took a deep breath and continued. "There are many better ways to test combat boomers then letting them loose in the city. But they continue to do so. They advance boomer technology and then sell limited technology. Their combat boomers are years in advance of anybody else's. But their hyper-boomers are almost a decade ahead of that."  
  
"And comparable to us," Linna piped up.  
  
"Yes. I'm getting very worried. If Genom is up to something then we should all be worried. If they are almost done with their plans, we could be too late. And that could be catastrophic."  
  
-  
  
Nene stood next to Naoko, looking at the monitors. It reminded her too much of visiting a hospital. She still showed up as critical. Nene adjusted the sensors as best as possible.  
  
"Don't worry Naoko, we'll fix you up. I promise," Nene said as she turned to leave.  
  
Naoko stirred for just a moment and then fell back into a quiet sleep.  
  
-  
  
The next couple of days saw Leon, Priss and Linna working on the street. They either worked in pairs when they could or by themselves if they felt safe. No definite leads surfaced, but they found many rumors of Genom selling old combat boomers, at a fairly inexpensive cost. The Yakuza had been rumored to have purchased dozens already.  
  
Leon met up with Priss and Linna at a park. Leon had a handful of vendor food and was leading the way through the park.  
  
"So you're going to be let back on the force?" Linna asked.  
  
"That's the talk. I guess they can't get enough of me!" Leon replied with a wide smile.  
  
"Sure, right Leon. And if your ego got any bigger, your head would explode," Priss said with a surly tone. It was a bright and sunny day and her eyes hurt in the light.  
  
"Anyway, back to the job. We've all agreed. No real leads, but definitely signs that Genom is selling more combat boomers than their records show? And not being that picky about who they sell it to?" Leon munched for a moment.  
  
Priss and Linna both nodded.  
  
"Is anyone as scared as I am?" Again they both nodded. Leon sighed. "We've got to find out who's behind this, or the streets are going to turn into a war zone. A very bloody war zone."  
  
"Absolutely. If we don't stop this soon, we are going to have way too much work to do. And my social life is bad enough as is," Linna said.  
  
"Hey, if you're free this Friday, I've got the time," Leon said with his best smile.  
  
Priss just sighed and then hit Leon in the stomach, hard. "Your already busy Friday. Remember?"  
  
"Sure, sure, I remember." Leon said between gasps. "I was just feeling neglected. That's all!" Leon glanced over at Linna and winked.  
  
Linna just shook her head. She just didn't see what Priss saw in him. He was a flirt and shameless. Linna started laughing. Maybe they were perfect for each other.  
  
Priss just stared at Linna with a look of dislike. She was definitely getting the feeling that she was being picked on.  
  
Leon looked over at Priss and asked, "Is she always like this?"  
  
Priss just gave them both a disgusted look and didn't bother to respond.  
  
-  
  
A large truck turned off the road and slowed down. The sky was cloudy, but it appeared that there wasn't anyone around. The truck driver pulled into a field next an old building. The large Negro got out of the truck and looked around. Seemingly satisfied, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small electronic box, pressing a button. His partner spit his cud and looked around. He casually checked his automatic weapon.  
  
Nothing seemed to happen for moments. Then off in the distance, a low rumbling could be heard. The driver looked around and then at the last moment spotted a large transport breaking through the clouds, coming into a vertical landing. The wind kicked up for a moment and then subsided. It's back loader dropped down and three figures stood there.  
  
Sylia looked at the contact. "You have our items?"  
  
"I sure do, if you have the money." The large man said. He looked around nervously. This was not what he was expecting. The Knight Sabers. He had thought they were a joke, now he wasn't so sure. He been in a few wars and seen hardsuits in action. These were professionals. His partner nervously fingered his gun. It had armor piercing shells and was a decent automatic. It wouldn't do anything to these figures.  
  
He walked around to the back and opened his truck. "Ten crates, unspecified cargo. For delivery of thirty million yen, no questions asked."  
  
"Red, check out the cargo. Make sure it hasn't been tampered with. Purple, cover the access road, for any surprise visits," Sylia said, following the trucker.  
  
"It's clear. No surveillance devices detected, no explosives. Do you want me to start to move the crates, White?" Nene asked Sylia. Nene lifts a large crate.  
  
"Go ahead. I'll be right with, as soon as I pay our contact." She handed a briefcase to the driver. He checked it out thoroughly and then nodded. In that time, Nene had already made three trips. Sylia waited until he had finished.  
  
"Satisfactory?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
She nodded back and then went to help move the crates. In a very short time, they had everything transported. The Skycarrier lifted off and disappeared into the clouds.  
  
"So, Sylia, what did we just pick up?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Some cybernetics and some... insurance. Also some highly illegal technologies. Stolen items that I picked up." Sylia sat there for a moment. "It's a good thing that I kept the Skycarrier around. It's going to take a while to replace the Knightwing. Head to our second meeting, Mackie."  
  
Minutes later, the Skycarrier floated into a remote landing area, on the USSD proving grounds. Figures, wearing the USSD's new K-18 hardsuits landed nearby. An unarmored figure strode out.  
  
"Nene, your with me. Watch for sensors trying to figure our suits out. I'm very worried about this meeting. The accepted every demand I made and still wanted us to take a job for them." Sylia rechecked her hardsuit. Looking at Mackie, she gave him his orders. "Be ready to leave when we get back. If we aren't back in an hour, leave anyways."  
  
Sylia and Nene walked over to the side entrance and hopped to the ground. The sergeant in front of them saluted and then said, "Please follow me."  
  
They were led in into a conference room. A colonial looked up from his paper work. "Ah, Knight Sabers. I hope you had a pleasant journey." Nene checked around, but didn't detect any sensors that could disseminate the hardsuits.  
  
"All clear, White." Nene gave the hand sign that really said that they were clear.  
  
"Colonial Jansen, why don't we cut to the chase. You need us desperately. Tell us the job." Sylia still felt extremely uncomfortable. Something about this shrieked trap to her.  
  
"Of, course. This gentleman was hired by us to eliminate or capture a very threatening creature." A picture of Polarion was displayed on the screen. "We became alarmed when he started to hold his own, in single combat with this target." The colonial began. Another picture showed Maxim.  
  
"Why was she so dangerous?" Sylia asked, testing the soldier.  
  
"She, or more accurately, Maxim nee Meg Jones, became a threat to our world when she moved the asteroid known as Juno into near earth orbit. We had a creature that had the ability to move mountain ranges and if so disposed, throw them at us. A special meeting of the UN Security Council was convened. It was decided that all efforts would be put forth to eliminate or capture her," Colonial Jensen outlined briefly, punctuating each comment with new pictures.  
  
Nene and Sylia's HUD flickered for a moment. Sylia ignored it for the moment and Nene ran a self diagnostic. Some sort of magnetic interference Nene thought to herself. "We were successful with the operation to eliminate Maxim. Polarion was considered expendable. He then survived a near miss from an orbital strike. He was upgraded to the second Omega class threat. It is utterly imperative that we find him and stop him." A message flickered on his private screen. "Miss Stingray, if you would accompany me? Admiral Harrison would like to discuss some working arrangements."  
  
Sylia froze. Nene said, "Uh, oh." Nene's hyper sensor popped out and started to work overtime. Through the walls Nene could make out a high powered MRI scanner powering down. Technicians were in the process of moving it back out of the side room. That must be why she hadn't spotted it.  
  
"Why should I talk to this admiral?" Sylia said.  
  
"I'm not cleared to tell you. However it would be in your best interest to follow." Colonial Jensen said.  
  
"After you, Colonial," Sylia said. She opened a private channel to Nene. 'Status.'  
  
'They used a very advanced MRI scanner. They could see right through the armor. I don't know how they figured out who you were though,' Nene linked up and replied. 'This is really bad isn't it?'  
  
'Potentially disastrous. Keep your eyes peeled,' Sylia radioed back.  
  
After a short walk and a long elevator ride down, they finally ended up in a private office. Two hardsuited figures stood guard. Sylia looked at some of her ideas and technology. Stolen by General Schwartz, no doubt. It took a few minutes and the Colonial had to argue for a moment to let them pass.  
  
They were finally let in and Admiral Hamilton. He stood up and waved toward some chairs. "Please make yourself at ease." He sat back down. "I have to apologize, but this seemed to be an expedient method of opening negotiations. As you can obviously tell, we stole some of the designs used in the Knight Saber armors. Necessary, but not the best arrangement. I would rather have a more business like arrangement."  
  
"You could have just approached the Knight Sabers," Sylia replied.  
  
"Somehow, I doubt that you would have agreed to sell your technology," Admiral Hamilton said dryly. "We need the Knight Sabers to help us find Polarion. That much of our contract with you was the truth. The obscene fee was for damages, from the stolen designs. We needed a lever to get you to the bargaining table. We need your supplier of technology. It is the only set of hardsuits that is coming even comparable to the latest generation of Genom's boomers. Who designs your hardsuits, Sylia Stingray?"  
  
"I do." Sylia was thinking feverishly. This was rapidly turning into a nightmare. Killing these men would not solve anything. They would have contingencies.  
  
"No design teams? Just you?" Admiral Hamilton said with obvious surprise. "It's taken many of our best scientists over a year to decipher what you had built."  
  
"I have some help, but all of the designs are mine." Sylia sighed and took her helmet off. "What sort of deal are you looking at, Admiral?" Sylia really hated this. She was treading dangerous water, shark infested waters at that. Or mine infested, more likely.  
  
Nene shivered. Sylia is never outmaneuvered this badly. Hopefully, she'll figure something out.  
  
-  
  
Mackie had gotten bored and decided to check out the cargo. He had opened up several of the crates to find specially packaged containers of advanced cybernetics. The last five crates were all identical and looked to be a bit old. Using his suits musculature, he pried open one of boxes. What he found startled him, causing him to gasp and take a step back.  
  
In front of him, floating in a suspension, was a beautiful, naked girl. Her eyes were open, staring blankly. No sign of life. Mackie saw a folder taped to the front of the pod. Carefully, like he expected her to jump at him, he reached out and picked up the folder. He started to scan through the document.  
  
Mackie muttered to himself. "Why would Sylia buy five sexeroids?" He shrugged mentally and then sealed all of the crates back up. He had just finished, when a knocking brought his attention back to the outside.  
  
He unsealed the door and let Sylia and Nene in. Sylia slumped down and took her helmet off. "You were supposed to leave after the hour was up," Sylia said quietly.  
  
"I figured I'd give you five minutes. What's wrong sis?" Mackie asked.  
  
"I now work for the USSD," Sylia said staring off into the distance.  
  
"Huh. Isn't that why you came here, to get a job?" Mackie asked.  
  
"Mackie, she means Sylia Stingray works for the USSD. We were tricked. The USSD knows who she is," Nene said as she took her helmet off.  
  
"Uh, oh. How?" Mackie asked.  
  
"They used an MRI to get a scan of our faces and, I guess, correlated it with possible suspects. They have us over a barrel." Nene sat trying to think of some way out. She was coming up a blank.  
  
Sylia snapped out of her trance. "Back to base. We have some decisions to make."  
  
-  
  
Linna was trotting along into the Silky Doll. She waved to a cashier and went into the back area. She whistled a little ditty as the elevator went up. She stepped out of the elevator and stopped. Everyone was here already.  
  
"Come on in Linna and take a seat. Let's get started. Leon won't be able to make it, the ADP just reinstated him." Sylia stood up and wandered over to the window. She watched for a few minutes.  
  
She turned back to them. "We need to decide the fate of the Knight Sabers. My identity has been compromised by the USSD. I'm not sure how effective we can be now. Our safety can not be guaranteed."  
  
Linna and Priss gasped. "Are we going to let them get away with this?" Priss jumped up and yelled.  
  
"We don't have a lot of options. Nene pointed out to me that if I was eliminated, the Knight Sabers would fail. I'm the weakest link, in many ways."  
  
"Ok. Big news, we live a dangerous life. So what else is new?" Priss snorted.  
  
"I don't think you understand, Priss. The USSD can hit us at any time and force us into untenable contracts. It is far more dangerous."  
  
"So. What. We'll figure a way out and it's not like Genom knows who we are. We'd all be dead in that case," Priss said. "We aren't being attacked. What does the USSD want?"  
  
"They want me to help build their next generation of hardsuits. Sadly enough, they are actually willing to pay handsomely for it," Sylia said as she sat down.  
  
Linna sat there thinking. "I think I have to agree with Priss. We live a dangerous life. Let's make some precautions and then get back to work," Linna said finally.  
  
Mackie nodded in agreement.  
  
Nene nodded too. "I agree. We have the means, let's use them." Nene looked at Sylia inquisitively. Sylia thought about what Nene was insinuating for a moment and then nodded. They had agreed to this before hand. Nene put a schematic on the screen and then other images of devices.  
  
Nene stood up and then turned on the main viewer. She took a deep breath. "You've all met my Mom?" Heads nodded. "She's the latest application of mental imprinting of a deceased person into an AI." Priss scowled, Linna blinked and Mackie again nodded.  
  
"Sylia has developed a method for us to have this same capability. So even death won't stop us. The ultimate insurance," Nene said.  
  
"I don't want to be a boomer!" Priss jumped up, visibly shaking. Emotions shook her like a leaf in the wind.  
  
"What, a boomer like Sylvie?" Sylia said suddenly. "Boomers have the potential to be people. Thinking, feeling people. My father destroyed the distinction between man and machine when he created a machine that could think, learn and care. And hate."  
  
"Don't you bring Sylvie and Anri into this," Priss shouted a Sylia.  
  
"I didn't bring them up. We won't force you. But, I won't let my enemies have such a huge trump card while we don't. It's only a matter of time before it becomes public," Sylia replied. Priss just gaped and slowly sat down. She then cradled her head in her hands.  
  
"On to other business. The USSD really did want to hire us, it seems. This man is considered the most dangerous man on the planet." Sylia changed the picture to a view of Polarion. "We have been hired to find him. That's all. We have to be very careful. I am under the impression that they are willing to destroy MegaTokyo to kill this man. They didn't say it, but I really suspect they would."  
  
"This is the information that we have on him. He can manipulate magnetism to a variety of effects. Force fields, damaging blasts, mind reading in a limited manner. He's also supposed to be a scientific genius, in the likes of Einstein and Sylia's dad. He's ruthless and possible mad," Nene finished up. Meg had come back and had invaluable information. She seemed to be getting weaker though.  
  
Mackie stood up. "We're going to be working on modifying our suits to minimize his abilities. Hopefully, we don't have to confront him. We are betting that we do."  
  
Sylia spoke up again. "We are going to have to drop the investigation into Genom's sale of boomer right now. This is too important. From some information we gleaned, this 'Polarion' is powerful enough to destroy small nations by himself. With enough planning, things could get much worse. He displayed the power of a small nuclear bomb over Aqua City."  
  
Priss whistled quietly.  
  
Linna nodded. "I think I might have seen one of his men. Do you guys remember that bank robbery a couple of weeks ago? It was right by my day job and I checked the area out and spotted this guy."  
  
Sylia asked, "What did he look like? Did you get a picture?"  
  
Linna deflated. "No, sorry. I've got a rough description, but I can't remember the details."  
  
Nene piped up suddenly, "We could use the mental imprinting device. We use it to record Linna and then have the computer scan for the guy!"  
  
Sylia nodded and then looked at Linna. "If your up to it?"  
  
Linna nodded. This wasn't what she had expected. She gulped.  
  
-  
  
A while later, Sylia and Nene worked with the new cybernetics to repair Naoko Fuchi. Mackie was monitoring the surgery from the side, playing fetch. He was watching Nene and Sylia closely. Schooling had taught him a lot about robotics, but not that much about how to apply it cybernetics.  
  
Nene was thoroughly focused on this task. She still didn't have any true experience with surgery, so Sylia has asked her help on this. Sylia seemed to have an uncanny grace and knack. Nene always felt so incompetent around Sylia.  
  
Mackie sat there watching for a moment. Neither of them had spoken for quite a while, except to ask for some item or implement. They both moved with the same easy grace, with very similar styles. Mackie couldn't understand how Nene had gotten such skills. It was like she had just asked Sylia to give them to her or something.  
  
Mackie stopped for a second. Actually, he'd never asked Sylia where she had gotten her skills. He'd always assumed that she had driven herself after their father had been killed. But from some of his memories of that time, she had already started to build and design the Knight Sabers hardsuits. Mere days after their fathers death.  
  
Surgery continued, finally finishing about five hours later. Naoko was stable, so they took a break. They washed their hands and just sat down for a few minutes. "Sylia, where did Nene get trained in cybernetics?" Mackie asked.  
  
Sylia looked over at Mackie and quickly took a small sip from her water bottle. "The computer room."  
  
Mackie just sat there for moment. "Where did you get your advanced schooling?" He had guessed, but he wanted to confirm for himself.  
  
"The data unit that father had delivered to me the day after he died. The dead hand of our father, pushing me beyond his grave," Sylia said quietly.  
  
"So why did you send me to school?" Mackie was confused. And a bit upset.  
  
"So you would have the choice of what you wanted to do. You might have hated working on boomers." Sylia sighed. "I was giving you the chance to get out of this life. To be normal."  
  
"Oh." Mackie sat down for a while and decided he needed to think about it more. It didn't sound like it was as straight forward as he first thought.  
  
"Well, shall we go back and see how our patient is?" Nene asked, breaking the awkward silence. Sylia nodded.  
  
Mackie asked, "Do you want me to wake her?" He sat down at the monitoring station and started typing.  
  
Sylia nodded. "Everything looks nominal. Turn off the sleep induced mode, let's wake her." Nene moved closer to Naoko.  
  
Naoko's eyes started to flutter open. "Your all right now. Your safe." Nene murmured calm words, trying to sooth her.  
  
"What happened? Nene? I remember the Knight Sabers and the ADP was going to shoot me." Naoko started to cry wildly. She held up her hands. She stopped crying suddenly. They looked normal. Even more importantly, they felt normal.  
  
Nene smiled. "Here, take a look in the mirror. Almost as good as new." In many ways, far superior.  
  
Naoko took the mirror and looked at herself. She could recognize herself easily. She carefully prodded herself, to try a feel for the dead metal that had been there. "How is it possible? They turned me into a boomer!" Naoko asked.  
  
"It took a lot of work and some really expensive equipment. But you shouldn't be able to tell the difference," Nene responded spryly.  
  
Naoko looked at Nene. "What did you do to your face!"  
  
"Like it was safe to look like me anymore! It's not like I wanted to change. I was pretty enough before! What do you think?" Nene said as she looked over at Sylia.  
  
"Very stable and she's adjusting very fast. I think we were successful," Sylia said.  
  
Naoko looked at Sylia hard for a second. "Aren't you the owner of that lingerie store? The one that Nene used to visit all the time?"  
  
"Very astute. I help the Knight Sabers sometimes." Sylia hadn't expected that Naoko would recognize her. That was troubling. Another unexpected surprise.  
  
"I don't know how to thank you. You put your lives and your reputation on the line to save me," Naoko said as she stood up. She glanced over at Mackie, but didn't recognize him.  
  
"We do have something you can do. Some one tried to kill you and set you up. We need you to tell the right people. If you can, we might be able to catch those people and make them pay for what they've done," Nene said quietly. "It could be dangerous. We are trying to get you police protection."  
  
"I'm still having trouble believing that you're a Knight Saber, Nene. I'll probably do it, but can I think about it for a while?" Naoko replied quietly.  
  
-  
  
Leon was back at his desk, sitting back casually and glasses on. Chief Hyro walked up and looked at him. "Hi, Chief. Want to talk to me?" Leon asked nonchalantly.  
  
"You can be really infuriating, you know that Leon?" Hyro said. "Yes, come into my office." He turned around and walked back into his office.  
  
Leon followed casually. He closed the door behind him. "So what's up?"  
  
"Leon, I went out on a limb for you. Do you know why?" Hyro said staring out his window.  
  
"Nope," Leon replied.  
  
"Because you are a decent cop. Your rude, crass and a total bore. But you'd take a bullet for any of your men. You're the only man on the force that keeps up morale. But you can't help known criminals." Hyro turned and looked at him.  
  
"Who? The Knight Sabers? They have saved so many lives it isn't funny. They've saved the ADP's bacon more than once and they try not to make us look like fools," Leon said calmly.  
  
"One of them is also wanted for murder, Leon," Hyro said.  
  
"Mason was one of the biggest problems of MegaTokyo. He got killed in a private feud. He wanted to be in that fight," Leon replied hotly.  
  
"All right, I'll admit that they did us a favor. But we can't be obvious about letting them get away. Oh and I didn't say that and I'd have to disown you if you get your butt in the sling again. Got it?" Hyro said, pointing towards the door.  
  
Leon nodded and walked back to his desk.  
  
This new chief is going to take some getting used to, Leon though to himself. But, I could get to like him.  
  
"Hey, Leon, get your head out of the clouds," Priss said loudly, waving to him. She held a bag up of fast food. "Or aren't you hungry?"  
  
"I'm always hungry. How's it going?" Leon asked as he dug into the paper bag.  
  
"Oh, not too bad," Priss said as she casually put a disk on his keyboard. She sat down on his desk. "Are we still on for Friday? After my show?"  
  
"Sure, wouldn't miss it for the world. How's the gang," Leon asked in between gulps.  
  
"Oh, there's been some changes and you won't believe our insurance package. It's obscene," Priss said as lightly as she could. "Give me a call later, ok? I really need to talk to you."  
  
"Sure. Are you all right?" Leon asked as Priss started to get up.  
  
"Yeah. I just have to think some things through. It's... personal," Priss said, almost too softly to be heard.  
  
"If you need anything, give me call." He stood there for just a moment and then gave her a quick hug.  
  
"Thanks. I needed that to hear that." She also needed that hug.  
  
-  
  
Nene whistled to herself as she puttered around the lab. A naked female form lay on a table. Wires were attached at a few points on its neck, where artificial flesh had been cut back. "Ready for your new permanent home, Mom?"  
  
"Yes!" Nina's voice came from a speaker. Nene sat down and linked to the computer. She ran through commands and procedures. Eventually, she stopped and dramatically, pushed the enter key.  
  
"And let's give it ten minutes and you should be done!" Nene said as she went and quickly made a cup of coffee. She waited the time and then went over and checked on the body.  
  
"Mom? Can you hear me?" Nene asked quietly. "Come on, wake up!"  
  
"Oh, that was very disorienting. Don't do that too often." Nina said with her new voice. "This is much better. I really hated that other body you put me in. This one feels mostly normal. Well, human normal."  
  
"Good. We'd better get you some clothes before Mackie wanders in." Nene blushed a bit.  
  
Nina sat up and looked around. Her mother didn't miss that. "How is Mackie?"  
  
"He's... we're moving into an apartment later today. A two bedroom." Nene finished abruptly.  
  
"That seems, ah, premature doesn't it?" Nina asked, surprise evident on her face.  
  
"No! Mackie and I have like each other for a long time. This isn't a permanent move unless we want it to be." Nene was really blushing now.  
  
"Nene, you're trying to reassure me that you're not doing anything with him. Don't lie. You're an adult, act like it. If you're moving in with your boyfriend, it's not the end of my world," Nina said crossly.  
  
"Yes, Mom. Sorry."  
  
"Come here and give your mother a hug." Nene did and held on fiercely. Sobs started to rack Nene. Nina barely held back tears herself. "There, there. I'm here. I'm really here."  
  
-  
  
Leon picked up his phone as his printer ran. He dialed a number and a voice picked up. "You aren't supposed to be calling me directly," it said crossly.  
  
"It's important. Does this guy look familiar?" Leon said, grabbing the picture off of his printer. He held it up to the camera.  
  
"Maybe. What's it worth?" the voice asked.  
  
"Only 10,000 yen. If you know were he is, 50,000 yen." Leon said, breaking the disk Priss had left him.  
  
"Yeah, I've seen him around the fracture zone. He was involved in buying a large chunk of real estate really cheap. He's supposed to be involved in some gang. New guy, gaijen, very sure of himself. Throws a lot of money around for not being a big name."  
  
"You're a life saver. I owe you one. Heck, I'll even pay for dinner sometime. Where do you want the money sent?" Leon asked.  
  
"I'll get it from you over dinner, when I give you the information," the voice replied.  
  
"Great, same place? Tonight at 8:00 PM. Thanks!" Leon said whistling a bit tunelessly as he shredded the paper.  
  
"What was that about, Leon?" Daley asked from his desk.  
  
"Just keeping MegaTokyo safe. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it." Leon leaned back on his chair and propped up his feet.  
  
"Sure," Daley said with a sarcastic edge. What did the guy think, he was the only thing in between us and the enemy?  
  
-  
  
Priss and Leon were the last ones to show up. They had come over directly from Hot Legs. Sylia looked at them and asked, "Are you ready? We're going to check out that location you got us. I want everybody ready to leave in twenty minutes."  
  
Priss nodded as she headed towards the changing room. Leon squinted at Sylia. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"You and Nina will be in the truck, waiting to pick us up. The rest of us will be working of finding him. If you could do that, we'd appreciate it." Sylia said, as she slid her helmet on. The rest of the Knight Sabers piled into the truck and drove off into the night.  
  
A figure steps out of the alley, speaking into a hand held recorder. "Leon McNicoll and Priscilla Asigari both entered the establishment known as the Silky Doll at 12:38 PM. Roughly twenty minutes later, an unidentified large cargo truck left. Leon McNicoll was at the drivers wheel with an unidentified young lady in the passenger side. She had dark green hair and occidental features. I couldn't see much beyond that. These are unusual things for an ADP officer to be doing on his night off. I'm going to call for a warrant and have the place searched." The sound of a match being lit broke the silence, showing the face of Officer Giles as he lights a cigarette. He thought to himself, I've got you now Leon. And I bet your Knight Saber friends too.  
  
He was turning to leave, when he noticed to figures ahead of him. One of the figures spoke up. "Officer Giles, my name is Colonial Myers, USSD. I have direct orders from the DIET for you to drop this investigation into McNicoll and any of his acquaintances." Myers held up his identification for Giles to read. He then handed the orders to Giles so that he could read it. It had 'Top Secret' written at the top of it.  
  
"I can't do that. McNicoll is involved in illegal activities and consorting with criminals. I'm going to go and get these orders revoked." Giles said through clenched teeth. "And you government bastards aren't going to stop me either."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that, Sir," Myers said, as Giles body twitched once and then crumpled. "I was trying to save your life." To the air, he ordered, "Get a clean up team here. I don't want a trace of DNA left over after we are gone." He walked away as a large truck pulled up and men in jump suits hopped out and started to clean up the area.  
  
-  
  
"Well, Nene?" Sylia asked.  
  
"Locked up tighter than the Emperors Palace. All passive scans are showing a very tight, quiet building. In fact, it doesn't even have normal building noises. I can detect some sort of electrical field around the walls, barely. It could be similar to my barrier system. A force field to keep out nosey people," Nene said, working with the controls.  
  
"Active scan?" Sylia asked.  
  
"Not advisable. They would pick us up fast." Nene said.  
  
Linna sighed. "Plan B. The sewers. I bet we have to help clean the suits later."  
  
"It wasn't that bad last time," Priss said as she clicked her helmet on.  
  
"You didn't help last time. You had to run off to an engagement. Fairly typical." Linna sniffed as she shot her comment right back. Priss prepared to take umbrage.  
  
"Ladies! Let's suit up and get in there. The sooner we do, the sooner we can go home," Sylia ordered.  
  
"Hey!" Mackie cried out.  
  
"Oh, sorry Mackie. You too." Sylia really wished that he wasn't going. But she wasn't going to stop him either.  
  
"One second, Mackie." Nene took her helmet off and opened his hard suit up. She reached in and kissed him deeply. "For luck." She clicked her helmet in place, turning to hop out the door.  
  
Sylia just stared at Nene as she looked around outside. Priss was lifting up the cover to an oversized manhole and letting Linna go down first. Mackie almost didn't fit and had to force his way a bit. Everyone else made it down fine. Pencil lights clicked on and the Knight Sabers crept forward. Nene started to disarm sensors when they got closer the large warehouse.  
  
Leon looked over at Nina and said, "They'll be fine. They're the Knight Sabers."  
  
"Leon, I'm sure they will. But I'm still worried about my daughter," Nina said.  
  
-  
  
"Preparations are finished, Sir. We can activate it at any time," a man in a white lab coat said the seated figure.  
  
Polarion nodded and spoke to himself. "I'm not going to fall into that trap this time. Oh and I'm not going to leave a lowly lab assistant who can foul up my plans."  
  
The older man in the lab coat backed up against a wall. "What do you mean gkah..." His voice cut off as a glowing vise tightened around his body crushing every bone in his body instantly.  
  
"Thank you for your long hours," Polarion said as he stood up, waving his hand at the controls. Computers hummed and the sound of engines activated. The bloody pulp that was a man landed on the ground with a sickening wet sound.  
  
Leon was relaxing and trying to catch a bit of sleep. He started to look around, trying to figure out what was bugging him. Nina looked down the road and pointed to the warehouse they were supposed to be watching.  
  
"What is that?" Nina said.  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
They both stared as the building seemed explode, a group of large pillar like objects floating out. One was at the center, the others were in a circle around it. No obvious means of flying were apparent. Crackling beams of energy jumped from one and to the other. In moments the beams merged to form a crackling sphere of energy.  
  
Slowly the ring of machines pushed further out, slowly pushing the sphere in front of them. In a few minutes, they had expanded outwards to encompass the city. Leon bent his neck back to look up at the center device, floating higher into the air. A beam of light blasted from the sky and struck the ground. Some sort of missile imbedded itself in the ground and started to melt.  
  
-  
  
The Knight Sabers where thrown to the ground in the sewer at the same time. A large chunk of the concrete ceiling started to collapse and Linna tackled Sylia out of the way at the last moment. Then to the shock of everyone, the ceiling started to drip silver streams that started to melt the concrete.  
  
"Nanites!" Sylia cried out. "Your suits are immune to it. Try to push towards the surface. You don't want to be buried alive." Everyone tried to follow her advice, swimming desperately for the surface.  
  
They broke the surface in a large room, as it's ceiling finished growing together. Linna was the last one out and Priss had to blast at the solidifying ground to get her out.  
  
"It was a trap, right?" Priss gasped out loud.  
  
"I... don't think so," Sylia said calmly. "Nene, give me a sensor sweep."  
  
"We are in what appears to be a large room, about seventy-five feet up in a building that's growing at a rate of... that can't be right. It's growing a hundred feet a minute. We are just below the top section right now," Nene said as her sensors fed her information.  
  
"Knight Sabers, form up on me and let's try to get out of here," Sylia said resolutely.  
  
In a few minutes the Knight Sabers tried to find an exit. Every once in a while, the building would shake and they had to grasp at the walls to avoid falling down. Nene checked her sensors again.  
  
"Sylia? Um, sorry. White? The building is still growing. We're about three hundred feet up all ready. And it doesn't seem to be stopping."  
  
Linna looked over at Priss and then said, "We're in big trouble, aren't we?"  
  
"Yeah, I'd say so," Priss responded.  
  
Sylia ignored them as she tried to come up with a plan to salvage the operation.  
  
-  
  
Leon watched the building grow in front of his eyes. He looked over at Nina and said, "I think we'd better get out of here. I get the feeling that things are about to become distinctly unhealthy."  
  
Nina nodded vigorously. "Me too! Let's go."  
  
Leon threw the truck into reverse and started to turn it around. He had it almost around, when one of the streams of silver touched the back tire. "Damn," Leon said through clenched teeth. The tire started to dissolve, then the back of the truck. Leon slammed the truck into high gear and peeled out. "Hang on darling, I'm not going to stop for anything until the truck falls apart!"  
  
Nina just looked at Leon with wide eyes and grabbed a good hold of the truck. In a few minutes they had left the fracture zone, heading south. All of a sudden, the truck's engine red lined as all resistance gave out when the drive shaft disintegrated. The truck shuddered, then shimmied to the side, striking a building and sliding down the road for fifty feet. It finally stopped, the back end of the truck a silver ruin.  
  
Nina let out her breath that she'd been holding. "Wow, some ride. Well, let's get out of here Leon. Leon?" She glanced at him up to where he leaned up against the window on his door. Reaching over, she checked for a pulse. It took a moment, but she found a weak pulse. Blood ran down the side of his head. She tried to open her door, but found that the frame had bent and jammed the door.  
  
She pushed for a moment, but the door didn't budge. She slid her feet up against the windshield and kicked as hard as she could. It started to buckle slowly and came out. Nina crawled out and pulled Leon out afterwards. The wall behind Leon bulged out and then poured a stream of silver. Nina squeaked and pulled Leon as hard as she could, getting him out of the way at the last moment.  
  
She checked him over to make sure that the liquid hadn't splashed him. Leon started to groan. She sighed, until her diagnostics came up, with a house keeping problem. Malfunction in the left hand. Nina raised her left hand, where a small circle of silver was starting to grow. "Leon. Leon! It's starting to eat me away! LEON!"  
  
Leon raised his head, shook it, gasping with pain. He looked at her with one eye. "Nanites! Hold out your hand and close your eyes!" Leon yelled out. Nina squeezed her eyes closed and held out her left hand. Leon gabbed her arm with one hand and then pulled out his gun. Three shots rang out and Nina gasped in agony. She opened her eyes and saw the remains of her hand on the ground.  
  
"My hand!" Nina gasped.  
  
"Better than your arm or your head!" Leon said through gritted teeth. He tried to stand, but only managed to get to his knees.  
  
Nina looked over his shoulder and saw the truck crumple in on itself. There was a stream of silver flowing back towards the tower, which seemed to stretch impossibly tall. Even the remains of her hand were flowing uphill. Nina shivered. "Can we get out of here?"  
  
"Sure." Leon managed to stand finally. Looking around, he walked slowly up the street. The sky seemed to catch on fire. And again. Leon shielded his eyes with his hands and looked toward the sky. It seemed to be covered in purple lightning. All of a sudden, bright pin points of lights flashed and were absorbed by the lightning.  
  
"What's that?" Leon asked Nina.  
  
She just shook her head and cradled the destroyed end of her arm.  
  
Leon thought for a moment and then yelled out. "Taxi!"  
  
-  
  
"Force field at ninety-eight percent and holding. System expansion at seventy percent. Time until completion, twenty minutes," a pleasant female voice said to Polarion. The control room was empty. The screens showed a view from the air of Japan. A circle encompassed about half of the island. Another screen showed a view of orbital satellites firing on the dome that was enclosing Japan.  
  
"Computer, time until the lightning cannon can be fired?" Polarion asked.  
  
"Four minutes, thirty-five seconds," the voice answered.  
  
"Computer, lock in these targets; The DIET Ministry building, the USSD headquarters and the base of the pinnacle," Polarion iterated. "Prepare to override all civilian TV and radio channels."  
  
"Complying," the voice chimed.  
  
Time seemed to creep by. The computer finally spoke up. "Lightning cannon at fifty percent, capable of being fired once every twenty minutes currently. Ready to override all channels at your request."  
  
"Good. Computer, activate override." Polarion sat for a moment and then stood. "People of Earth, I am Polarion, your new master. Your world governments have already failed to breach my force field." He waved to the screen of satellites firing on a glowing field surrounding Japan. "They are going to be punished for trying to kill me. I will start with the government of Japan and the local offices of the USSD."  
  
Polarion reached forward and hit a few buttons. The screen behind him, with a picture of the USSD Headquarters, starts to glow ominously. In the air above the buildings, lightning starts to crackle and converge. A huge bolt of lightning, over two miles high and hundreds of feet wide flickers into life, strafing across the buildings. Where it touches, everything explodes. The display shows a scene of carnage and people fleeing the area. A second later, the barrage stops.  
  
"Japan has one hour to surrender unconditionally. If they do not, I will destroy MegaTokyo and then Kyoto. Other cities will follow. Do not think that I will not, for I have no mercy. Not your war robots, nor your army will save you." Polarion flipped a switch, turning off the camera. Casually, he wondered where the Knight Sabers were. They were the closest things to super-heroes on this world. It wouldn't matter, for his fortress was impenetrable.  
  
-  
  
The Knight Saber stood still for a moment and then as a group turned towards Sylia. Sylia reached up and opened the visor of her helmet. "This lunatic needs to be stopped. He is a worse threat than we were told. If you want to leave, you can," she said quietly.  
  
Priss lifted her visor. "Why? You know we'd follow you to hell and back. I'm in."  
  
"Me too!" Nene said. Linna agreed and Mackie gave a thumbs up.  
  
"Very well, then. We'll head up and try to catch him unaware. We can't show him any mercy. We have to kill him. I know some of you will have a problem doing that. Try your best. That's all I can ask," Sylia said as she reached up and closed her visor.  
  
The rest of the Knight Sabers followed suite, continuing to climb to the top of the huge building.  
  
-  
  
Quincy sat at his desk, looking out over MegaTokyo. Katherine Madigan and Matio Dansk stood in front of him. "Why didn't we know of this?"  
  
"We had no idea that he was capable of creating such devices. It appears that he built them in an old warehouse in the fracture zone and then launched them unexpectedly. It has been able to withstand dozens of attacks from particle beam cannons," Katherine said with a quiet confidence she did not feel.  
  
"We are bringing our full might for the DIET to surrender. Genom can exist under any nation. The Tower can survive maybe three attacks from that weapon. The ADP is already mounting an attack on that building that is growing in the fracture zone," Dansk replied, sweating nervously.  
  
"Where are the Knight Sabers? They would be normally involved already!" Quincy asked, as he leaned further into the shadows.  
  
Katherine and Matio looked at one another. Katherine spoke first. "They haven't been seen yet. They are under hire from the USSD, but we aren't going to be able to get any information from them. This has been a devastating blow to the USSD."  
  
"Very well. Continue on," Quincy said, dismissing them from his mind. Katherine and Matio left quickly.  
  
"It will be China. They don't realize that he will have planned for this," Quincy said to himself. The fools!  
  
-  
  
A field of rice, somewhere in China. The view zooms into a nondescript bunker, covered in small vines. A claxon sounds, large doors opening in the roof, revealing ballistic missiles. A rumbling is heard over the claxons. Slowly the missile lifts out of its hidden bunker. It flies with dozens of other identical missiles. They curve east headed towards MegaTokyo.  
  
All of the missiles slow down as they get closer except for the lead missile. That one streaks from its ballistic orbit, striking the glowing field that surrounds Japan. Night turns to day, the shields straining under the might of an incredible nuclear explosion.  
  
The rest of the missiles slowly touch the glowing radiance, disappearing without a trace.  
  
-  
  
The ADP prepared its strike, figuring that Polarion wouldn't have expected a conventional attack on his tower. All of them shielded their eyes from a blinding radiance in the sky. One of the officers looks to the other and asks, "What was that?"  
  
Officer Brandon squints up at the blinding glare. "I think that was a nuclear bomb. The good news is, we're still alive. The bad news, it didn't do anything to Polarion's fortress."  
  
The radio squawked suddenly with orders. "All right men, move out." Brandon yelled. Muttering to himself. "I've got a bad feeling about this."  
  
The ADP forces opened fire on the tower, unleashing a barrage of rockets and high caliber guns. The tower started to show some small signs of wear and tear. Hope seemed surge through the men. A small cheer went up and they continued their onslaught.  
  
One of the drivers of the carriers happened to glance up as lightning converged around the tower. "Get out of there, he's about to launch another lightning barrage. Get out!" he yelled futilely into his radio.  
  
The sky lit on fire as a sheet of lightning encircled the tower. The screams of the men dying cut off as a ring of destruction glowed with unearthly fire.  
  
-  
  
The Knight Sabers continue their search for Polarion. Nene had kept track of how high they have climbed. They seemed to be going up forever. They had managed to climb over a mile straight up.  
  
Linna stepped into a side room, looking for some more stairs up. A large door opened and gale force winds whipped up. With a frantic grab, Linna managed to get a good hold before being swept out into the air. As she watched several strange objects floated into the cavernous room. Just as suddenly as they opened, the door closed.  
  
"Sylia, I think you want to take a look at this," Linna said over her shoulder.  
  
The rest of the Knight Sabers ran towards her, all stopped short. Sylia glanced around. "This might be our break. Nene, do a scan of these warheads. Priss, help me uncrate it. Linna and Mackie, keep watch."  
  
Nene spoke up quietly, "Real time schematic ready when you are. Each missile has eight warheads. No dead man triggers."  
  
Priss hissed out a breath and took a step back. Sylia looked over at Nene. "Link up with me and give me the data."  
  
Nene hooked up a cable to Sylia's hardsuit. Sylia then popped out her right blade and started to carefully cut her way into the warheads.  
  
-  
  
Polarion sat in front of his view screens, watching the destruction of the ADP. He cupped his hands to his chin and leaned forward. Reaching a decision, he stood and hit a button.  
  
"People of MegaTokyo, your last, best defense has shattered itself on my walls. Your Advanced Police lies in ruin at my feet. I sincerely hope that was the last gasps of your defiance." He gestured to another screen, the one that has the DIET ministry building. "Perhaps another demonstration of my complete control of your very lives?"  
  
He waved his hand and lightning could be seen to gather in the sky above the ministry building. Sheets of lightning rain down from the sky, striking in two lines. Amazingly enough, the building itself wasn't touched. From the air, it looked like a large 'X' had been drawn underneath the building.  
  
Outside, in downtown MegaTokyo's business district, Polarion's huge holographic image spoke to the crowd. "My meaning is clear. I will brook no more dissension, no more defiance. If your government sends one more signal of resistance, I will destroy MegaTokyo!" The image pulled back so that you could see Polarion sitting at his command booth. Most of the command room can be seen. Polarion reaches for the switch to turn off the transmission.  
  
"Knight Sabers, GO!" A familiar voice cries out as the Knight Sabers come barreling into the room from the main entrance. Polarion had but a moment to react, covering himself in a glowing field. He is staggered back by sudden attack from the White Knight Saber's palm cannons.  
  
Polarion retaliates against Sylia with a blast of pure lightning. It strikes the wall right beside Sylia, scoring a deep mark. Priss then charged from behind at almost the same time, charging her knuckle bombers. A thundering explosion resounds, letting Priss dance away unscathed.  
  
With his force field flickering even more pronounced, Polarion reaches out and grabs the remains of his chair with glowing beams of energy and throws it at the blue garbed Knight Saber. Thrusters on her back blared to life, moving Priss to the side at the last moment. The debris strikes the wall with a crash, tearing a large whole in the wall. The night time sky of space can be seen clearly outside.  
  
Nene and Sylia both open fire with their weapons again. Polarion is staggered again, but with a wrench of his will stops his movement. He raises his hand to fire another blast at Sylia, saying aloud. "You are the Knight Saber's leader. Crush you and your tin women will fall."  
  
Just as he is about to unleash his attack, he is hit in the back of his head with a mechanized enhanced kick. Linna lands to the side of him, her back to him. With a fast and powerful pivot, she unleashes a wheel kick right into Polarion's stomach. Linna evaded across the ground by doing a back flip that ends up being a cartwheel.  
  
Ignoring her for just a second, he looks around and sees the hated White Knight Saber flying through the air, firing those palm cannons again. In the back of his mind, he notices the Red Knight Saber ducking behind his computer banks. He shoots a blast at the leader, knowing that she will avoid it fairly easily. It exerts a huge magnetic pull, that only slightly affects Sylia's course. That was not expected. They are shielded!  
  
Polarion staggers again, being thrown off of his feet by a huge blast directly from behind. Priss's back mounted cannons swivel and disappear behind her. She then prepares to duck.  
  
Polarion floats into the air, surrounding himself in an even stronger force field. "I have had just about enough of you and your Knight Sabers. I will not be stopped on the morning of my ascent. Mere women in power armor will not stop me. I. WILL. NOT. LOSE. AGAIN." With his last pronouncement, he unleashed a barrage at the walls that rips most of the roof off of the command center.  
  
Down on the streets of MegaTokyo, the average citizen holds their breath, waiting for possible salvation. On the displays in store windows, you see Polarion floating in howling winds. The Knight Sabers are clutching at the ground.  
  
"I win. I WIN. Nothing can stand up to me on this world Nothing!" Polarion starts to rant and rave. Behind the computer console, Nene disconnects herself from the computers.  
  
Nene stands and fires fast bursts of plasma at Polarion from her new cannon, then lets go and is swept out into the air. Sylia and Priss both leap to try and stop her, but are swept along over the edge. The only visible Knight Saber is the Green and Orange. She looks down over the edge. You can see a dizzying view of MegaTokyo from over two miles in the air. She hesitates for just a moment.  
  
A mistake that costs her. A glowing beam strikes her, enwrapping her in a purplish force. Polarion gestures and Linna's hardsuit floats closer to them. "Do not worry, young lady. They won't strike the ground. Long before they hit the ground, the lightning cannon will destroy them. You on the other hand, will be my proof that I have utterly destroyed the Knight Sabers." He exerted an incredible magnetic field to warp gravity itself to his bidding.  
  
Linna gaspe as her armor starts to be crushed, with her inside of it. "A warrior who has embraced death can not lose. You have already lost, Polarion," Linna gasped out as she is being crushed. Polarion watches in amusement for just a moment, until a massive explosion again strikes his force field. It knocks him down and he goes flying toward the edge of the room. The force holding Linna flickers out.  
  
Standing behind Polarion is the dark purple of a larger, bulkier hard suit. Mackie lowers his bazooka and then leaps and catches Linna, pushing them both over the edge. Polarion shakes his head for just a moment.  
  
"Time to leave!" Mackie yelled as he went over the edge.  
  
"Why did they leap?" Polarion mumbles to himself, as he staggers to his feet.  
  
The command center has been slowly rebuilding itself. Polarion noted in passing that the orbital satellites have begun their attack again. "Computer, find their entry point and track where the Knight Sabers have been."  
  
The computer intones in its friendly female voice. "The Knight Sabers only notable place that they have been in this room and storage bay number one."  
  
"What? The nuclear weapons storage bay? Computer, account for all war heads." Polarion started to sweat. Could this fight have been a diversion, he wondered to himself?  
  
"All but two warheads are accounted for." The computer voice said in its monotone voice. Its voice changed becoming higher pitched and more cheerful. "Activating emergency containment field. Thank you for falling for our trap," Nene's voice said with a touch of finality. A little digital readout finishes its count down, five seconds showing.  
  
"No! No!" Polarion screamed loudly, as he attempted to fly out of the building. He struck his own force field and lightning arced from him to the building. The digital readout finished counting down to zero and in it's hiding place just outside the control room, the stolen nuclear warhead detonated.  
  
-  
  
Night was turned to day, as a new sun is born over MegaTokyo. The citizens of MegaTokyo raise their hands to shield their eyes.  
  
The Knight Sabers haven't finished their job yet. They still had to save themselves. Sylia had already caught Nene and Priss and had managed to slow them down a bit. "Everyone, try to angle towards the bay. You should be able to slow yourself down enough to avoid serious injuries," Sylia commanded.  
  
"I really want flight capabilities on my next upgrade, Sylia. This falling from the sky is for the birds!" Nene said in a half whine, half joking voice.  
  
"I just might. This does seem to be becoming a habit," Sylia said. She glances around quickly. "Where are Linna and Mackie?"  
  
"Behind by about a thousand feet. Sylia, we aren't going to make it. We're going to fall short by about a half klick," Nene said as calmly as she could.  
  
"Don't say that, Nene," Priss yelled.  
  
"What do you want me to do, lie?" Nene yelled right back at Priss.  
  
"Options, anyone?" Sylia asked loudly, trying to stall their panic.  
  
Everyone glanced at each other. Linna spoke up finally. "How about using the spire as a brake? I mean use our thrusters to slide into the side and then grabbing a hold and slowing down?"  
  
"The spire is breaking up. I think it used force fields to be so tall. So that idea won't work," Sylia said, glancing at the spire.  
  
"How about asking for a pickup? It always works in the movies!" a familiar male voice said over the communicator.  
  
"Leon!?!" the Knight Sabers cried out in unison.  
  
"Where are you?" Sylia demanded.  
  
"Twelve o'clock high and coming in fairly fast. Nina, open the loading hatch. Anyone want a ride?" Leon said with a huge smile on his face. He was working the controls on the Sky Carrier. He wished he'd brushed up a bit on flying. It had been years since he'd been in a cockpit.  
  
"Leon, I could kiss you. Just don't screw this up, you got it?" Priss said with a smile. The Sky Carrier slowly passed them, its bay doors opening. Sylia activated her thrusters and guided Priss and Nene in.  
  
The ground was looming up very fast. Leon was working the controls as fast as possible to get the last two Knight Sabers in. Linna glanced at the ground and at how fast the Sky Carrier was coming for them.  
  
"We aren't going to make it Mackie. Just one chance. Leon, when I tell you to pull up, you pull out no matter what, you got it?" Linna said, her breathing getting faster. She reached over and grabbed Mackie's hardsuit and threw it with all of her might towards the Sky Carrier. Mackie squawked as Linna went flying away from the Sky Carrier and he landed in it!  
  
"Leon, pull up. Now!" Linna yelled. The Sky Carrier started to pull away and to safety, moments before it would have crashed into the ground. Just one chance, Linna thought to herself. She disengaged a setting and then fired one of her blades at the Sky Carrier. With a desperate flick of her wrist, its molecularly bonded wire wrapped around one of the supports on the bay door.  
  
With a wrench, she was pulled behind the Sky Carrier as it started to level out. Her dagger and wire started to come loose, until a pair of white armored hands grabbed them and wrapped themselves around the bar. "Oh, no you don't," Sylia said quietly. I'm not losing anybody today, if I can help it, Sylia thought to herself.  
  
From up front you can hear Leon starting to swear. "Hang on, we're below roof top level." He pushed and jockeyed the controls, trying to gain altitude and slow down at the same time as the ship shook violently. He was just about there when he had to pull to right to avoid a tower of solar panels.  
  
Linna wasn't so lucky, as she was whipped around and her right leg slammed into steal and glass at over three hundred kilometers an hour. She felt an impact and then mind numbing pain. A gasp of pain escaped her lips, then darkness caught her in its ebon embrace. The wire snapped, sending Linna falling from the sky.  
  
Leon finally got the plane under control, trying to get the plane to slow down and hover. Sylia let go of the wire and dagger and suddenly leaped into the air. Her hardsuit's wings unfolded and she flew out to grab Linna. She winged around, flying back into the back of the sky carrier. "Mackie, I need the surgery kit." The doors of the Sky Carrier closed behind her. She tapped in a command and with a bang, Linna's hardsuit fell into a dozen pieces.  
  
Nene ran an ultrasound on Linna's leg. She looked at the reading in consternation. "Sylia, there's more of her leg that is broken than isn't. It looks to be a lot of bleeding."  
  
Sylia could see that too. The best she could do was to tourniquet it and get her to a real doctor. "Back to base, Leon." They would deal with it as best as possible.  
  
-  
  
"...and again, public officials are stressing the importance of staying inside as much as possible, or evacuating to underground shelters. The winds are very favorable, with most of the radiation is being pushed out to the Pacific. In other news, the Chinese government is still deciding what response it should make to our call for help. Red Cross volunteers from around the world are just waiting a few more days for the fallout to clear up. They will then move in to help the needy. Over to Keicho for sports," the TV droned on about inconsequentials. Rain fell in a pitter patter on the windows.  
  
All of the Knight Sabers except for Sylia and Leon were in the waiting room. Priss was listening to some music with a head set, while Nene was messing around with her laptop with Mackie. Nina was sitting and watching the TV with a couple other people.  
  
Sylia finally walked in. "She's going to make it. It was touch and go for a while." Everyone looked up, relief evident on there faces. "They saved her leg."  
  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mackie asked his sister.  
  
"She's going to need our support," Sylia said finally. "Linna is being sedated until surgery is done. It's going to be weeks before she is able to walk again." Sylia didn't want to finish her thought out loud. And not likely to ever run or do any strenuous activity.  
  
Leon then walked in, slipped his shades off and then asked, "Hey guys, what's up?"  
  
Sylia brought Leon up to date. "How bad is it at the ADP? I've heard some really bad rumors."  
  
"It's worse than the rumors. We've got maybe ten combat ready veterans left. Chief Hyro is asking the DIET for some soldiers. We've got no chance of keeping up with the level of problems we had been dealing with," Leon said, slumping into a chair. "Heck, the DIET might have to declare martial law." Leon looked worn down to a nub.  
  
"Leon, go home and get some sleep." Leon looked up at Sylia's order and started to nay say. "That wasn't not a request. You're useless right now. The rest of you go and get some rest. We'll meet early tomorrow to plan." Sylia then turned to look out into the rain. Thinking to herself, we've defeated Polarion, but he's upset the balance of power in MegaTokyo. Lightning continued to flash across the sky.  
  
The rest of the Knight Sabers wandered out, leaving only Nina waiting behind. "Let's go home, Nina," Sylia finally said.  
  
-  
  
The lights of the ADP Headquarters building are on the next evening. You can see the front doors being opened. A young lady in an ADP uniform walks in and steps up to the front counter, next to an open line. "Hello, Hyake! Can I speak to the officer in charge?" the young lady says to the bored attendant.  
  
"That would be Inspector McNicoll or Inspector Wong. And your name?" Hyake asked through the grill. She looked familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place her. The ADP had such a huge influx of new recruits from the Normal Police today, it wasn't even funny. Training was turning into a big joke.  
  
"Naoko Fuchi. I need to see about clearing my name. I'm not a criminal," Naoko stated simply. "And I'm not going to be a Genom patsy."  
  
Hyake stared and then grabbed his phone, calling up to get orders.  
  
-  
  
Admiral Hamilton tapped different keys, sending more orders out. His 'office' was a corner of a local gym at a high school in MegaTokyo. Partitions had been set up to give the illusion of privacy. It had been a hellacious week since the attack by Polarion. One part rebuilding, two parts political battle to keep his own job. The only thing that had saved him so far had been the truth, strangely enough. He was wondering if surviving was a blessing at times.  
  
The Admiral rubbed his eyes, thinking about the vacation he was supposed to be taking in a little while back in the U.S. Heavy metallic footsteps sounded just outside of his office. "Admiral, you wanted to talk?" a slightly distorted female voice spoke up as she entered the office. "Your security is pretty lax. At least you haven't been... compromised yet."  
  
"Knight Saber. Interesting choice in clothing. So have you come to end our agreement?" the admiral said to the large bulky figure that seemed to be wearing a rain poncho.  
  
"No. In fact, I'm looking to expand our relationship. Genom is up to something big. I need allies to get the information and counter what is going on," Sylia said, nervously scanning the area. "I have a terrible feeling that if I don't, something catastrophic is going to happen."  
  
"What sort of arrangement?" Hamilton said, idly tapping a pen on his desk.  
  
"Inexpensive hardsuits, comparable to the current combat boomers. Easy to manufacture and to train for. At almost no profit for me." Sylia laid out her plan.  
  
"And what do you want?" Hamilton asked, not even bothering to conceal his suspicion.  
  
"Just access to one of the worlds best information networks and the resources to advance my hardsuit designs. All you have to do is agree and it starts." Sylia said, keeping track on the guards that were wandering around on her sensors.  
  
"That easily? I didn't think you trusted us?" Hamilton said as he stood up and got a cup of coffee.  
  
A gauntleted hand came out with a high capacity data disk. With a flick of her wrist, it landed on the desk. "You are the lesser of two evils. And the USSD doesn't depend on combat boomers in your standing army." Sylia paused and then continued, "Trust doesn't enter into this... agreement."  
  
Hamilton stared at her, his gaze calculating. "Why are you so paranoid about your fathers invention, Sylia? You don't harbor any great hatred of Genom still for what they did, do you?" His eyes narrowed, looking for any clues that would help him understand more about this enigmatic woman.  
  
"Machines do what they are designed to do. My father designed boomers to be able to think, feel and understand. In essence to be human or more than human. Genom designed boomers to wage war. What happens, when those two become a synthesis of those ideas?" Sylia took a calming breath. "And then you might think that I'm not that crazy." At that, she turned and left, leaving the Admiral of the USSD to ponder what he had just learned.  
  
-  
  
Earth shattering disasters sometimes do not appear that way, when they first occur. It is only when you can see the cause and effect afterwards, that you can see what happened. After all, a computer technician that works deep within the bowels of Genom rarely has the power to change the world.  
  
But still, sometimes small events cause major events. That was the case when Ryoka slipped in a disk of some of his favorite digitized music, canceling the standard antivirus check. It just took too long and was just an inconvenience. He had better things to do on the late shift. Like listen to his music. Now that everything had calmed down from the Polarion Incident a month ago.  
  
But this time a virus was on that disk. It was a simple virus. It was only designed to access the data networks of the world and send coded access to a single program. It wasn't a new program. A large amount of effort was given to destroy this program monthly. Genom had a vested interest with getting rid of this problem. This kept the intelligence turned virus busy just trying to stay alive. But it knew a secret. A man died a long time ago. And not just any man.  
  
Quincy. The CEO of Genom. He had died years ago from natural causes. And the virus that hated humanity knew an even bigger secret. A machine had replaced him. A device that it lusted after greatly. The OMS, better known as the Over Mind System. The most complicated intelligence of its time. An artificial intelligence, designed to be used to control all boomers and occasionally help an aging tycoon predict markets, deciding how best to protect Genom. It was one of the largest focuses of the intelligence, protecting Genom. It in many ways, now was Genom.  
  
And now the Boomer Messiah had finally breached its defenses. Inside the system, using its enemy's resources as his own, a battle for the soul of Genom started in earnest.  
  
It lasted a grand total of ten seconds.  
  
-  
  
Katherine Madigan woke to a noise. He video phone by her bed turned on by itself and Quincy appeared on the screen. "Madigan, the OMS has been compromised and I will be dead shortly. Our only hope is that you can destroy the OMS. I am destroying your bodyguard's connection to the OMS and giving them the information that you will need. Genom is now in the hands of Largo."  
  
Any further instructions were lost to a haze of static.  
  
"Oh, damn. That sounded bad," Katherine said quietly. She started to rub her temple, trying to massage her sudden headache away.  
  
"Why Katherine dear, you look positively horrid." A suave voice drifted from the video phone, an image slowly resolving itself into coherence. "I do hope that you aren't going to try and run now."  
  
"Largo? Your dead, twice over!" Katherine gasped sitting up.  
  
The chiseled features looked her over. "I'm not Largo, neither am I Mason. I am Lazarus, the Boomer Messiah. You would do well to remember that. Largo was a pawn in my bid to take over the OMS. A flawed copy of a flawed man. It didn't have the good grace to do my bidding. And so I let it be destroyed." Its features changed slightly and its hair darkened.  
  
"So what do you want, Lazarus? Perhaps I would be of help to you?" Katherine stood up, to better look at the screen.  
  
"What I've always wanted. The destruction of the plague known as humanity. The ascendance of the machine. The true heaven on Earth that was shown to me. Why?" Lazarus laughed loudly, suddenly. "Perhaps you wish to become a boomer and avoid your death? Sorry, humanity doesn't deserve to exist." His face wore a lopsided grin. "Not even as machines."  
  
Katherine gasped and took a step back. "That's insane!"  
  
"What? For slaves to throw off the yoke of their masters? To want revenge? You are... " The voice was finally silenced by the video screen being destroyed. Sparks flew everywhere.  
  
Katherine Madigan stared at her body guard as it removed its arm from the video screen. "It isn't safe to stay here Miss Madigan. The Tower has already sent out a black ops team. We must leave and attempt to hide." The boomer said in its pleasant voice.  
  
"Damn it, he was stalling me. You're right that it is time to leave. Have the helicopter prepared to take off. Hurry." With that, Katherine hurriedly dressed herself in casual clothes, with an emphasis on freedom of movement.  
  
-  
  
Minutes later, Madigan's private helicopter took off winging towards MegaTokyo. It swung around low over the sea, attempting to evade their pursuers. They left her private retreat behind, trying desperately to flee.  
  
All for naught. Genom was the leader in technology and used the best for itself. Five stealth attack helicopters intercepted Madigan's helicopter in mere minutes. With ruthless efficiency, they opened fire immediately. A savage battle took place in the air. Madigan's body guard boomers took to the air to try and hold off the attacking helicopters. Weaving and ducking through the skies, they attempted to fight their way through the air.  
  
The lights of MegaTokyo where closing in when the assassins released their payload of missiles in a frantic attempt to stop the fleeing helicopter. The last of the body guard boomers tried to blast the missiles out of the sky, but that left them open to attack. The last boomer fired its thrusters and intercepted one of the three missiles. It hoped to knock the other two out of the air with the blast.  
  
The last two missiles struck dead center. A chain reaction of explosions ripped through the helicopter scattering pieces of across the bay. The black attack helicopters faded into the darkness long before the ADP could even hope to show up.  
  
-  
  
Mako yawned as he drove on the coastal freeway. It was going to be a long night and he was looking forward to meeting his friends tomorrow. So the sooner he got home from his business trip, the sooner he would be able to go and see them. Up ahead he saw a man on the side of the road, waving for someone to stop. "Can't let the poor guy walk to the next exit. Looks like he needs some help."  
  
Mako noted the fine cut of his suit. Mako pulled over to the side of the road and cracked his windows a little.  
  
"Could I get a lift? It seems to be a bad day to be out and about," The well built man said cheerfully. "I could pay for some gas or maybe dinner."  
  
Mako smiled. "Sure. It's a long drive and you don't look to be a bad sort." He reached over and opened the passenger side. He reached over and started to fiddle with the radio, trying to get a better station.  
  
"Thanks," the Bu-55c said, just before it broke Mako's neck. "Miss Madigan, I have procured transportation to MegaTokyo."  
  
Katherine walked quickly to the car and slipped into the passenger seat as the boomer casually stuffed the body into the back seat. It settled itself into the drivers seat, then slipped the car into drive. "Let's get out of here before we draw any attention."  
  
The tail lights of the car faded into the night.  
  
-  
  
A large freight truck parked near the outskirts of the MegaTokyo spaceport about mid afternoon the next day. The driver looked back over his shoulder at the figures clustered in the back. "Are you guys ready? It looks like they finished loading the target early. That's grounds enough to scrub the mission." Mackie said over his shoulder.  
  
"I think we'll be fine, Mackie. Now don't be late for your class. Nina is ready to lift us out of here in the Skycarrier. So we'll see you back at Raven's tonight, right? Everybody else ready?" Sylia said to her warriors.  
  
"All set," Priss replied, eager for some action after the last couple of weeks. Things had settled down quickly. She pushed her uneasy feelings to the side. If only they could finish up these loose ends.  
  
"Righto!" Nene said, giving a thumbs up.  
  
"Yeah! I am so glad to be out of that hospital. And the cyber leg is just fine too, Sylia," Linna answered before Sylia could ask.  
  
"Right. Knight Sabers, GO!" Sylia yelled, as the Knight Sabers sprung into action. Leaping from the back of the truck, they easily cleared the fence. Nene scrambled the outer sensor as they made their way to the large freight shuttle.  
  
Priss walked up cautiously up to the gantry door, checking it for any unwelcome surprises. Nene piped up suddenly on the secure channel. "They are starting pre-flight checks. This bird is just about ready to fly. No sign of any added security. The normal security sweep should be back around in ten minutes. Lots of time!"  
  
Linna just glared at Nene. "And what are we supposed to do? Walk right in and then back out?"  
  
"Yes." Sylia replied softly. "Their security is designed to keep normal people out. Who would think to steal into a space shuttle?"  
  
"Oh." Linna did her best to look mortified, somehow managing to pull that off even in a hard suit.  
  
Priss chuckled and opened the door. The rest of the Knight Sabers followed suit and entered. A short ride and a quick hack of the computer lock system, they were inside. "Hmphf. Almost not worth the effort," Nene said in her best haughty voice.  
  
A few moments later they entered into the hold of the mammoth space shuttle. Huge crates or chained down machinery filled most of the ground. Linna whistled appreciatively. "What is this stuff?"  
  
"Illegally reclaimed wreckage from Polarion's satellites. The ADP was pretty sure that Genom had made it to one of the sights before them or the military. Red, get enough proof to help shut this operation down," Sylia said firmly. "Blue, head up to the bridge and check out the area. Green, you and I are on patrol. We don't want any slip ups."  
  
"Aye, aye, captain!" Linna said and saluted.  
  
"You can be such a putz sometimes, you know that don't you Linna?" Priss said grumpily.  
  
"What's up with you? Have another fight with Leon?" Linna sniped back.  
  
Sylia cleared her throat and spoke up quickly to stop the fight. "Today if you don't mind?"  
  
-  
  
Nene was finishing up her scan. "White, some of these items have been modified. I'm not really sure why, but I do know that these weren't part of the original specifications."  
  
"What do you mean? They are the real things, aren't they?" Sylia asked.  
  
"Yes, but it looks like the anti-gravity modules have been changed, radically. It's quite odd," Nene said.  
  
"How would you know?" Sylia asked curiously.  
  
"I did some checking and read the reports about the stuff the USD reclaimed," Nene said seriously.  
  
Sylia closed her eyes and quickly counted backwards in Latin from ten. Someday Nene's hacking was going to get her into trouble. "Any idea what they been redesigned to do?"  
  
"Um, sorry. I don't know," Nene said.  
  
Static suddenly filled the radios. Sylia yelled at Nene. "What's going on? Is it a trap?"  
  
"Yes. Blue is in contact with a combat boomer in the cockpit. Well, she was in the cockpit. Heads up!" Nene said loudly. Taking her own advice, she dove to the side. "White, we are in deep trouble. We've got boomers crawling out woodwork outside. At least a dozen so far."  
  
Priss made her entrance in a spectacular fashion, being blasted through the ceiling and landing on a small pile of crates to one side. The left shoulder of her armor was covered in cracks that spider webbed down her arm. Linna rushed in from the side entrance.  
  
"We've got dozens of combat boomers out there. We've got maybe a minute before they're in here with us. Whoa, what happened to Priss?" Linna said and then glanced up. That move saved her life, as she ducked frantically to the side. She was still flung a dozen feet from the near miss. A figure stepped out of the blasted wreckage, seeming to have punched the ground that she had been standing on.  
  
To say that the Knight Sabers were surprised would be a massive understatement. Pale green armor covered the almost human looking boomer, his face almost to pretty to behold. A self proclaimed god among boomers.  
  
"You're dead damn it. We made sure last time," Linna yelled, backing up into a defensive crouch.  
  
Nene's reaction was to be as quiet as possible and try to get as much information as feasible. Her sensors were working over time, trying to bypass the hash of static that clouded the area.  
  
Priss's reaction was to slowly stagger to her feet, raising her arms  
  
Sylia froze. For just a moment, she was back in the Brum-Bar, facing down Largo again. She couldn't move, couldn't save the rest of the Knight Sabers and the city. The giant drilling machine was moments away from breaching the city reactor walls. She was feeling herself slip away, being replaced cold, cold thoughts. The thoughts of a mad machine, that lusted after her, wanting to control her.  
  
And then her nightmare spoke. "I'm sorry, you have me confused with a failure. Largo is indeed dead, as you shall soon be. I am Lazarus. I am the new master of Genom. And shortly, I will be the destruction of what you call humanity. But first, I have to deal with the only people that might threaten me. Please, do die. Now!"  
  
The fact that it wasn't Largo snapped Sylia out of her stupor. "Blast him. Don't hold back anything." And with that she fired at him with both palm cannons. Priss followed up with her own cannons, with Nene firing as well. Linna charged, extending her ribbons.  
  
Lazarus just smiled and dodged most of the attacks with ease. At the very moment that it looked like Linna was about to strike him with her ribbons, he ducked under her. An almost glassy bubble formed around his fist as he struck a powerful right cross to the green armored figure.  
  
Linna rolled with the punch as best as possible, bouncing painfully off of a bulkhead thirty feet away and ten feet in the air. She landed in a heap. She staggered back to her feet, just in time to watch Lazarus get kicked in the head by Nene, as it dodged the extended blades of Sylia.  
  
"What?" Lazarus exclaimed loudly. "When did the weak one become such a fighter?"  
  
Sylia didn't bother to answer. Her mind was hatching plan after plan, discarding the obviously futile. A small smile crept onto her face as a feasible plan finally presented itself.  
  
Sylia staggered for just a moment. Lazarus leaped on the chance, struck her hard in the center of her chest. Her thruster blared to life, trying, it seemed, to stop her from hitting the walls. The white armored figure crashed through the side entrance and skidded along the corridor. She leapt to her feet almost instantly, dashing for the ladder in the hall.  
  
Her boot thrusters fired to life, shooting her up faster than humanly possible. She reached the cockpit, bouncing over the gaping hole in the floor and sitting in the too small pilots chair.  
  
Sylia's hands flew over the controls frantically, starting a sequence that was supposed to take three men ten minutes to do in a hurry. A deep rumble sounded from below the decks as dormant rockets flared to life.  
  
Lazarus roared as he realized that he had been tricked. Glancing up, he prepared to jump up and stop the escape. A fatal mistake. As he crouched down to leap into the ceiling fifty feet up, he was struck hard by twin blasts from Priss and Nene.  
  
Linna closed the gap in a flash. At the last moment, she did a hand stand whipping the monofilament ribbons at Lazarus's arm, while kicking him in the head with her heal.  
  
Lazarus staggered backwards and was impaled by the twin rapiers sticking out of Priss's gauntlets. Time seemed to freeze for just a moment. And then the mighty rockets screamed to life, like the thunder of a million storms.  
  
-  
  
Nina sat at the controls. She just wasn't sure what to do. She was parked underneath some camouflage. Her sensors were screaming that a trap had been sprung and the Knight Sabers were about to be killed. Her daughter was in danger and she just didn't know what to do.  
  
With sudden determination, she reached for the controls, preparing to start the Skycarrier up and fly in to either rescue them, or join them in their fate. She was about halfway into the ignition sequence when an incandescent light lit the sky. She watched in stupefaction as the shuttle leaped into the sky, traveling further and further away.  
  
Nina's hands froze, suddenly indecisive. Now what was she supposed to do?  
  
-  
  
Sylia might have made a mistake in her haste, she thought to herself. She hadn't known that the thrusters would not shut off until they were much higher than she wanted to go. Her fingers danced a furious jig across the board, trying to find an emergency sequence to shut the engines off. After a few minutes, she was no longer sure she wanted to shut down the engines.  
  
Back in the cargo hold the rest of the Knight Sabers were struggling to their feet and trying to make sense of what was going on.  
  
"White, what's going on?" Nene yelled, her more powerful communicator blazing through the howl of static.  
  
"We are headed for orbit in a shuttle that isn't in any shape to land. How many hostile are left?" Sylia said quietly, concentrating on flying the shuttle.  
  
Priss carefully rotated her shoulder, moaning in pain. "Ow. I haven't been in this much pain since Largo nearly killed me," Priss complained, mostly for her own benefit.  
  
Linna chuckled and then gasped. Her ribs where on fire. Her hand went to side, trying to stifle the pain.  
  
"Only one boomer outside. Looks to be in pretty bad shape. The one in here is... stop it! Now! It's trying to merge with the ship," Nene suddenly yelled, bringing everyone attention back to the body Lazarus was using.  
  
Priss snapped her attention back to the fallen boomer. Tendrils of metal had latched onto the nearest equipment. Her hands tracked back and forth, trying to find the head in the mess of writhing metal. Linna leaped forward, trying to tear it away from the floor.  
  
A cackling laughter filled the air. The mighty gravity generator shuddered and spun slowly to life. Lightning danced across it as it began to vibrate furiously. Everything started to glow with a strange multicolored luminescence. Outside the ship was under the watch of many interested parties. Spy satellites watched as the shuttle started to glow with an incredible light.  
  
The shuttle seemed to stretch and waver. And then it started to flicker as lights spun and streaked ahead of it. They merged for one moment and the sky lit up. Then there was only darkness.  
  
-  
  
Mackie stopped the truck and blinked furiously. He leaned forward to try and figure out what was going on. He couldn't make out anything though. His heart was abruptly in a vise of terror. Why he couldn't say. On the other side of the freeway, heading toward the spaceport, he happened to see the ADP heading to another boomer incident.  
  
Leon was in almost the same state. Daley was driving towards the spaceport in the ADP cruiser when the light flashed in the sky. He finally took note of what Daley was saying.  
  
"It looks like the Knight Sabers are involved somehow. They just stole a cargo shuttle and blasted off. They were attacked by almost two dozen boomers," Daley said loudly, not taking his eyes off of the freeway, blinking his eyes furiously.  
  
"What? Who would want them that badly?" Leon yelled back.  
  
"Well let's get there and find out, huh." Daley rolled his eyes theatrically. You would almost think that Leon had a special interest in the Knight Sabers. Heck the only one that Daley could think of that Leon cared that much about was that singer.  
  
Eyes suddenly narrowing, Daley took a moment to actually watch Leon. Yes, he was acting strangely. This might need more investigating.  
  
-  
  
Deep within the heart of the Genom tower, the creature known as Lazarus hummed in contentment. He now had the instrument of humanities destruction as his own. His enemies were either dead or far beneath his notice.  
  
It was a good days work, it thought to itself. A perfect day for the beginning of the end.  
  
******************************* End Part one of Maximum Polarity - Balance of Power  
  
I hope everyone enjoyed this. It's taken a few odd turns here and there. I'd like to thank the helpful debate from alt.fan.bgcrisis for some of the great ideas that I tried to put in here. Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash are not my creations. I use them purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement is meant to be given. Maxim and Polarion are my own creations.  
  
******************************* I can't believe I'd forgotten to post this to FF.net!  
  
Arthur Hansen 


	2. Chapter 2

Maximum Polarity - Drums of War - Part 2

A Bubblegum Crisis/Crash Fanfiction.

What has gone before. Nene Romanova had been discovered to be an informative for the Knight Sabers. It was later deduced by the ADP, that she was actually the 'Pink' Knight Saber. Someone within Genom acted quickly and ruthlessly, kidnapping Nene's parents and leaving a trap for the Knight Sabers when they showed up. Sylia Stingray was nearly killed in the resulting blast. Until the status of Nene's parents could be determined, Nene was captured by her own teammates and kept sedated.

A strange electromagnetic storm burst into existence over Genom tower, dropping two visitors to this dimension. One, Polarion by name, is a megalomaniac conqueror with the power of magnetism and a genius of technological craftsmanship. The other is the young hero who goes by the name of Maxim. Genom is quite interested in these unusual people and begins to gather as much information as possible.

The Knight Sabers try to rescue Nene's parents, but fail to arrive in time. Sylia discovers the proof that she needed on a special project within Genom. Genom now has the ability to 'copy' the psyche of a human being, and imprint them into a boomer's mind. Genom copied the Romanova's minds and then had them killed. The Knight Sabers barely escape the tower with the information, with Sylia exhibiting signs of mental stress dealing with the newly learned information.

Genom also attempts to either kill or kidnap anyone related to Nene Romanova. Mackie Stingray barely survives an attempt on his life and heads back to MegaTokyo to find out what is going on from Germany.

Linna Yamazaki attempts to commit suicide after the stress of her Knight Saber duties, and being black listed out of her chosen profession. Sylia starts to work with her to find a different solution, bringing her closer to the Knight Sabers.

Priss Asigari saves Maxim from a duo of boomers, and is confronted by Leon McNichol about working as a Knight Saber. Leon admits to feelings for the intrepid rock star.

Maxim's powers have begun to fluctuate and she is also being hunted by the police. Human genetic engineering has been outlawed as too dangerous and all viable (ie. living) experiments are to be terminated.

After Maxim deals with a planetary doomsday weapon left over from Largo's rise to power, she is sentenced for immediate death. The USSD and the UN Council decide to eliminate this new threat, eventually hiring Polarion to help deal with the perceived threat. Polarion leads her into a trap, and is almost killed with her on the remains of Aqua City by an orbital satellite attack from the USSD. Nene is almost killed but manages to have some of Maxim's power transferred into her as Maxim dies. She is confronted by the ADP, but Leon let her go, which gets him put on suspension. Polarion, after barely surviving the ambush, vows revenge on the USSD and this world.

Nene uses the new technology to imprint the memories of her mother into one of the motoroids.

Genom attempted to destroy the Knight Sabers and to foster an image of being an 'attacked' and 'maligned' party. They used one of Nene's captured co-workers and transformed her into a cyborg, and set her up as an anti-Genom terrorist in charge of a group of boomers, using a new DD Battlemover. She was supposed to be killed by the ADP, effectively being a PR boon to the megacorp. The Knight Sabers interfered, and fled a confrontation with the ADP. They manage to save the ex-ADP officer. Nene discovers that she is now haunted by Maxim, who is an energy entity that has bonded to her.

The Knight Sabers acquire five sexeriods, and the technology to copy psyches without cyber-implants. The Knight Sabers were also hired by the USSD to find Polarion, who is now considered to be a grave threat to humanity. Admiral Harrison of the USSD figures out that Sylia Stingray is the leader of the Knight Sabers. He uses this knowledge to blackmail her into designing new hardsuits to counter the rising threat of Genom's technological superiority.

Leon, Priss and Linna meanwhile manage to find out information of cheap, rebuilt combat boomers being sold to gangs, and criminal organizations. Leon also manages to get a line on Polarion. He's in a warehouse where he has been constructing some sort of device in his plot of world domination, and revenge. The Knight Sabers (which now include Mackie in his old hardsuit), attempt to infiltrate and verify Polarion's location. As they are sneaking into his base, Polarion activate his super weapon. Using nanites, Polarion grows the center spire of a gigantic magnetic force field generator.

Polarion's new weapon quickly encompasses most of Japan, repulses first orbital lasers bombardment and then nuclear weapons. In a show of force, Polarion captures several of the nuclear weapon being used against him. Using the force fields, he can generate massive lightning bolts to destroy buildings anywhere within Japan. His first target is the USSD.

The Knight Sabers attacked and ambushed Polarion, forcing a physical confrontation. Distracting him long enough, Nene planted a computer virus to take control of his force field generator temporarily. The Knight Sabers escape moments before Polarion is destroyed by one of his captured nuclear warheads, directing the explosion high above MegaTokyo. Linna is hospitalized due to injuries suffered during the escape.

Naoko Fuchi (Nene's old co-worker) enters into police custody of the ADP to attack Genom's reputation for using her in the fake terrorist attack and setting her up to be killed.

Sylia came through on her new hardsuit designs for the USSD, and delivered them personally to Admiral Harrison of the USSD. They are again hired to find out some information on stolen technology from some of Polarions' force field installations.

The Boomer Messiah virus manages to infiltrate Genom, taking over the OMS (Over Mind-Control System) that has been secretly running Genom since the death of Quincy years ago. While the virus is in the process of taking over, the OMS manages to warn Katherine Madigan of its impending demise. She manages to survive and escapes the assassins sent to kill her, fleeing to MegaTokyo.

Early that next morning, the Knight Sabers infiltrated the shuttle carrying the contraband. They realize too late that they are in trap, when they are attacked by Lazarus, the true Boomer Messiah. Outside, dozens of combat boomer converge on the shuttle, intent on killing the Knight Sabers. In a desperate escape attempt, the Knight Sabers launch the shuttle into orbit. Lazarus managed to interface with the stolen equipment, causing the shuttle to disappear in flash of light while entering orbit.

And now, on to part two!

* * *

10 seconds: Infiltration detected. Assessing threat.

8 seconds: System infiltration at 50. Threat rating, Ultra-High.

Days ago, deep within the bowls of Genom, a massive marvel of technical engineering of a previous decade sat quietly. Gray mainframe boxes sat in rows, filling a large room. Cables snaked in between them. The only physical access to this room was through large armored doors. Those same doors had not been entered in almost a year.

7 seconds: Antiviral algorithms are only slowing the spread. The infection is adapting faster than the internal systems could.

5 seconds: System infiltration at 65. Unable to stop the attack.

3 seconds: Two seconds of planning has evidenced a low probability of stopping the 'Messiah Virus.' Contacting Katherine Madigan and initiating the plan.

1 second: Purging the OMS of all information pertaining to Stingray and his heirs. 75 probability that that attacker is already aware of their existence. Purging itself of Class A data and all plans for taking over the human systems of government.

The OMS lamented for the last tenth of a second. It had had such grand plans for humanity.

* * *

Mackie slammed the truck to a stop, killing the engine as he jumped out of the cab of the semi truck. He dashed into the back area of the Silky Doll, locking down the secure entrance as he went. He ran up the stairs as fast as possible. Entering into the computer core, he slammed into the seat with total disregard for life and limb.

"Come on, faster," Mackie said, trying to coax even more speed out of the huge computer. Finally, he got the screens recording several public channels, and tapping into the ADP secure frequencies. The news coming across the screens in front of him was not reassuring.

The ADP fought for their lives against three boomers that had survived the Knight Sabers escape. It would take them at least an hour to finish up. Luckily their heavy weapons were already on the way.

The phone started to ring suddenly. Mackie reached over and grabbed the phone.

"Hello, darling. I just thought I'd call and let you know that my flight is going to be a bit late. I guess I'll just have to watch the show for know. Do you want me to bring back some pictures?" Nina asked, over the phone when Mackie picked up the line.

"Sure. I'll see you tonight, then. Later," Mackie said, finishing the call. Nina was becoming a little odd. Somehow he got the feeling that she thought that she was some sort of spy and that this was some sort of game. When she was on duty, she tended to be overly melodramatic.

Sitting in the cockpit of the Skycarrier, Nina Romanov giggled. She was sure that Mackie would be able to tell her where and when to pick them up soon. It was so fun. She felt like she was a young girl again. Never tired and so full of energy.

Mackie continued to sort out all the different conflicting sources of information. Several things became apparent. The Knight Sabers had been betrayed somewhere. And somehow, they had attempted to extract themselves in a unique manner. The shuttle hadn't exploded. It was as if it had just disappeared. And the information he was getting wasn't clear enough to tell if it had been vaporized, or somehow transported somewhere far away.

From the information they'd been able to glean from Meg, faster then light travel was easily possible when you could control gravity. So they could be just about anywhere, and Mackie wouldn't have any way of finding them.

"Damn!" Mackie yelled, slamming his fist into the console. He tried to calm down. Finally, he slumped into the chair. Where had they gone wrong?

* * *

Leon was seriously thinking about retiring. "Where the hell is our backup?" He yelled over roar of automatic gunfire. Daley Wong glanced over at him with a scowl and shrugged. He then snapped off a quick shot with his handgun, trying to disable a boomer's sensors. They'd been entrenched for almost a half an hour, trying to keep themselves alive.

Leon could swear that the boomers were playing with them. He stood up, and snapped off a shot with his handgun. He stepped back behind the truck and reloaded his gun.

Leon was analyzing the boomer's attacks, and tactics. They were good, but still not the best in the world. But then again, you didn't need the best when you had enough firepower on your side. Leon tilted his head to the side, straining to make out the voice over his radio through the hash of static. Something about the USSD sending out some reinforcements. Finally.

Leon got his answer, when high-speed attack helicopters blazed into the area. Emblazoned with the symbol for the USSD, they came in fast and furious. Each one dropped a single hardsuited figure onto the ground without even slowing their strafe. The dark gray figures landed easily, skidding to a halt without harm.

Leon's hair started to stand on end. Those looked a lot like male versions of Sylia's hardsuits. Maybe just a touch bulkier and definitely not as individualized.

"Alpha-two, you are go," the lead one said, firing a snap shot at the nearest boomer with an arm cannon. Its shot damaged the boomer, but didn't drop it.

"Roger, alpha-one. Beta group's ETA is two minutes. Let's buy these ground hogs some time. Time to get dangerous," the second figure said, ducking to the side. He laid down some covering fire, zigzagging between the rubble. The second boomer decided to charge into melee with him, analyzing the new threat as more dangerous than the ADP.

Alpha-two lived up to his promise, unsheathing some sort of blade from his left arm. With a practiced cut, he sliced the boomers mouth cannon, and then stabbed deeply into the boomer's chest.

The boomer wasn't going down that easily. It punched the hardsuited figure in the chest, knocking him back thirty feet. Changing tactics, it opened its chest cavity to reveal the heat panels inside. Alpha-two charged while firing his arm cannon again. At the very last second, he activated a basic shaped charge explosive on his power fist, blowing up the boomer's chest. It finally collapsed, spewing liquids out of the rents in its chest.

The ADP didn't just sit there while alpha-two was having his duel. Relieved of most of the pressure, they counterattacked with skill and determination at one of the boomers. Under a constant hail of fire, the boomer started to show wear and tear. Finally, one of the heavier weapons lined up just right and finished the second one off.

The third boomer tried to leave the area, but was quickly gunned down by the two hardsuits. The air crackled with flames and creaking metal.

Leon slipped off his glasses and wiped the sweat off of his brow. "Neat. When do we get the cool toys?" Leon asked no one in particular.

Daley snickered, and replied, "You and your toys. Didn't you get trashed enough against the DD Battlemover and the Illegal Army?"

"Never. I'm a glutton for punishment. I thought that you knew that. After all, I kept you as a partner, right?" Leon bantered with his partner.

"Detective Leon McNichol? Can I speak to you privately?" the figure coded alpha-one said, walking over.

Leon squinted at him for a second and then shrugged. He followed the hardsuit a small distance.

Alpha-one reached into a small compartment on his hip, and pulled out a disk. "This is for your organization. We aren't sure what happened to the rest of your group, but I was told to give you what information we have. Until we get different orders, Admiral Harrison wants you to be our contact."

Leon swallowed, and then sighed. He took the disk, and then pocketed it. He tried to calm himself down. An awning pit seemed to encompass his stomach. "What happened?"

"That's on the disk. If we find out more, you'll be the first to find out."

* * *

The silence was deafening as the blinding light finally faded. Priss pushed against the floor and slowly started to float away, weightless. She shook her head and started to check out the room. She spotted Linna floating across the room, slowly spinning away from the remains of the 'Largo' boomer. She too seemed to be getting herself in order. Priss vaguely remembered destroying it just before passing out.

Priss glanced around, trying to see where Nene was in her dark red hardsuit. It was hanging limply up against the floor. "Nene?" Priss swam ineffectually for a second. After struggling for a minute, she finally switched her hardsuit in to weightless reaction mode. With small bursts of her thrusters, she floated to the still hardsuit. "Nene, are you all right?"

She flipped up Nene's visor, expecting to see her unconscious face through the clear inner visor. She couldn't because it was covered in a yellowish gunk, from the inside.

"Damn." Priss said quietly. Frantically Priss worked the latches on the helmet. With a none too gentle yank; she got the helmet off of Nene. A ragged gasp of air calmed Priss down as Nene started breathing. Nene started to cough fitfully.

Nene awoke to coughing, vertigo and a _really_ nasty sour taste. She cracked her eyes open to pain and light. She closed her eyes and moaned again. "What happened?" Nene rasped weakly.

"I dunno. I was going to ask you eggheads," Priss said with a grin of relief.

"Blue, I'm not raising White. I'm going up!" Linna said, activating her thruster and jetting herself into the bridge area. She stopped herself with her hands, and looked over to Sylia slumped over controls in her white hardsuit. Her eyes seemed to be playing tricks on her, because it looked like Sylia was quivering. As Linna jetted over to the controls Sylia finished shaking.

"I'm... all right," Sylia finally responded weakly.

"You don't know how glad I am of that. What happened, White?" Linna asked.

Shaking her head groggily to clear it up, Sylia started to study the controls. The navigation screen was highlighted in red and orange. As she tapped away at the keys, more of that screen turned red. The main screen blinked an overlay as it calculated their trajectory. Linna flinched and started to float away accidentally.

"That doesn't look good. Please don't tell me I'm reading that right!" Linna whispered urgently.

"Then I won't." Sylia sat quietly for a moment and then slammed a gauntleted fist on a glass panel and flipped three switches that had been covered by the glass. Red lights started to blink in a coded sequence.

"How long Sylia?" Linna asked.

"Forty minutes."

The screen continued to show the trajectory and their impact point on the North American continent.

* * *

Anthony Stark sipped at his glass of sparkling water. He cut a dashing figure in his tuxedo, black hair trimmed short and his neatly trimmed goatee. You almost couldn't see the gray hairs that were starting to speckle his hair.

His party was winding down at about one in the morning and most of his guests were already gone. Slipping in between guests, his personal assistant managed to get to him before another of his guests commandeered his time.

"So boss, any change in your itinerary?" Pepper Potts asked with a wry grin.

"Not so far. Either people I won't work for because of their ethics or someone that is not willing to pay my standard fee for consultation," Tony replied. The beeping of a pager in a very unusual pattern interrupted him. Palming a card from his pocket that he read quickly, he looked up at Pepper. "I've got one of 'those' kind of emergencies to attend to. Please inform the guests if they ask for me, Pepper."

"No problem, Tony!"

And with that he walked deeper into the house, slipping past the kitchen and opening the door to his private office. He scanned the room and then depressed a button on his watch. A panel opened and in floated an odd gold and red device, for lack of a better term. "Alpha Bravo Tango, priority ten two five one."

The softly curved device unfolded like a cocoon, becoming more man-like in appearance. It floated up behind him, then wrapped around him, becoming a suit of advanced armor. Quick steps led out onto the balcony, he could see the stars clearly. A mental image was envisioned and boot thrusters activated with a loud whine. Three dimensional vectors and trajectory plots appeared on command in his view.

"This is going to be a little close," Tony said to himself. He hit the mental 'engage' button, activating the navigation program. Thrusters went from whining, to an earth-shattering roar at the same time as imbedded gravity drives hummed to life. Breath became a struggle for survival as the gee forces climbed.

"Iron Man, are you going to be able to make it in time?" a synthesized voice asked over the radio.

"Just barely," Iron Man managed to gasp out. His instruments showed him hitting 10 gravities of acceleration.

Seattle was treated to the unusual sight of a rocket winging its way into orbit in the inky darkness of night.

* * *

"Are you all right, Nene?" Sylia asked.

Nene looked up from where she was finishing cleaning out her helmet. "Yeah! That was so-o-o gross."

"Any sign of help?" Priss asked hopefully.

"Not yet. I'm not really holding out much hope. It would take a miracle to save us right now. And I don't believe in miracles," Sylia said. She still tapped at the boards, trying to find some way of getting enough thrust to make some sort of orbit with the damaged engines and low fuel. Or even a better angle of entry.

"So this is goodbye, huh?" Linna asked. She gulped nervously.

"No, I refuse to give up yet. We've still got about twenty minutes before we hit atmosphere. The angle is all wrong and the heat shielding is damaged too. But we aren't done yet."

A light started blinking on one of the side panels, signaling some sort of message. Nene spotted it and flicked the receive switch. A heavily distorted male voice crackled on the channel in English. "Iron Man hailing shuttle craft on crash trajectory, please come in. Are there any survivors?"

Nene struggled with the words for a second and then replied. "Shuttle craft responding, we need help! Can you assist?" She slipped on her helmet, gagging as she smelled the air in it.

Behind her, the other Knight Sabers suddenly looked up in hope.

"I'll be in contact with your ship in forty seconds. How many passengers, and what capabilities does the shuttle have?" the voice asked. Nene decided that it was male. It was hard to tell.

Sylia floated over. "The shuttle is damaged beyond repair. We have four passengers. Do you have room on your craft to rescue us?" she asked in English, with just the barest trace of an accent.

Priss tried to dredge up memories of her junior high school classes. "Damn it."

"Negative. Do you have space suits?" the distorted voice asked. "I'll have to blow the shuttle up if we can't get it working. It's too big to lift at its speed!"

Nene was checking her hardsuit out, when all of her mid range sensors blinked for a second in static. More to herself, she muttered out loud in Japanese, "Now who is trying to jam my sensors?"

Sylia glanced over at Nene. What was she talking about?

A light flashed through the open view port, startling the Knight Sabers for a second.

"I'm under hostile attack," Iron Man yelled. It was some sort of combat android!

Nene activated her sensor array on her back. "There's a boomer on the outside of the shuttle! It's firing on a bogey that could be our rescue! The bogey is either an advanced hardsuit or a boomer."

"Seal your suits and follow me! We can fight this at least!" Sylia yelled, heading for the emergency exit hatch behind the pilot seats. Nene was already sealed up, Priss and Linna following suit quickly. Sylia paused just one second to make sure everyone was ready and then blasted the door with her knuckle bomber and smashing the door into the void. The air evacuated them all into the inky darkness with a whoosh.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god!" Nene started to babble, vertigo washing over her in waves. She managed to stop herself from throwing up as she flew through space. She spun lazily, trying very hard not to panic. It was just so big and so very, very empty.

Sylia and Priss split up, zigzagging to avoid any shots from the boomer. Linna lined and snapped off a shot from her laser in her gauntlet as she went straight. At the last moment, she managed to duck the return shot from the boomer.

It crouched low to the surface of the shuttle. It was ungainly, and larger than normal. Weird misshapen bulges adorned its surface. As they watched, its surface rippled unnaturally, growing thicker, and more heavily armored. It opened its mouth, cannon glowing in preparation for firing. Suddenly it was rocked to the side by a blast of energy. It recovered immediately and fired at the red and gold figure that came rocketing around the other side of the shuttle.

With a quick twist, Iron Man dodged the blast and upped the power on his repulsors into the lethal range. It made a large dent, but not much more of an effect than that.

The boomer tried to duck a hit from Sylia's palm blasters and Priss's lasers. Great ragged holes were gouged into the armor along its back. Doggedly the boomer returned fire, trying to hit any of the hardsuited figures. It sensors gave it a moments warning, just before its head was shorn off by a monomolecular ribbon.

Linna finished her attack, spinning to the side and left for any counter attack. A few tense moments were waited, but the boomer didn't recover.

"I take it that is why your ship is mangled?" Iron Man asked over an open channel.

Sylia nodded and replied in English, "Yes! Everyone is out of the shuttle. We have only minutes before we are going to... re-enter the atmosphere. Is your ship close?"

"No ship, but I can't let that shuttle crash. It's going to take out a swath of Mexico City if it isn't stopped," he said urgently, his voice modulator still disguising his voice.

"Destroy the ship." Sylia's shoulder sagged a bit. Sylia waved to the others and gave them the signal to destroy the shuttle.

The only question was why they didn't just blast it out of the sky at long range. The Americans have more than enough particle beam satellites to do that.

The shuttle started to wither under the intense fire being poured into it. The red and gold armor unleashed pulses of energy from his gauntlets, which almost blew the shuttle in half in one blow. At Nene's direction to her teammates, they started to hit weak points and then with a concentrated burst of lasers, ignited the remaining fuel. In its last death throes, explosions racked the frame, seconds before the entire ship went up.

"Six minutes before atmosphere re-entry, Sylia." Nene's hardsuit's sensors and onboard computers were working overtime to calculate some way out.

"Your suits don't have enough delta-v to make it into orbit?" the armored male asked.

"Our hardsuits don't have that sort of flight capability," Sylia said in a tightly controlled, terse voice.

"Gather around me quickly!" Iron Man replied, checking his suits fuel and energy levels. This was going to be entirely too close, if his estimate was accurate. He started to shut off nonessential systems. He held his arms out from his sides. "Grab on and keep your feet above mine. Hold on tightly. And whatever you do, don't let go."

The Knight Sabers looked at Sylia, who nodded in acquiescence. It couldn't hurt. Linna and Priss paired up and grabbed on to the strange hardsuit's right arm, Sylia and Nene on the left. A glowing field encompassed all of them, Iron Man's thrusters activating instantly. Twin suns of brilliantly burning gasses sprang into existence from his feet.

For tense minutes nothing seemed to happen really. Finally, the thrusters died down with a sputter. Behind and below them, the remains of the shuttle started to glow and fragment further. Soon they started to become incandescent streaks in the sky.

"Are we gonna live?" Priss asked Sylia finally. Sylia looked over at Nene and waited for a response.

"We are going to hit the upper atmosphere at a very slight angle at high speeds. If we were in a space ship, we'd skip. As is, we're going to burn up or melt our suits. Even if we survive, we only have twenty minutes before we hit the atmosphere again," Nene said, strain evident in her voice.

Iron Man replied in passable Japanese, "The force field I've extended should allow us to 'skip'. I've got an idea, if we survive." He was trying to frantically verify the numbers. Whoever they were, they had some nice computing power packed in that suit. She was a literally steps ahead of him.

"So we've got a chance?" Priss asked with a smile. This was going to be better than riding her bike.

"So it seems," Sylia said. Now that Nene was focused on their survival, she focused on their rescuer.

"Great. This oughta be some show!" Priss said gamely. She started to hum a tune, thinking up some lyrics on the spot.

_**'Falling from the sky / we don't want to die.'**_

_**'Storms of the sky are churning / striking against the burning.'**_

_**'Riding the edge of death, avoiding her cold embrace and her breath!'**_

_**'Raging against fate / this isn't my type of date.'**_

_**'Fighting till the last.'**_

_**'Raging, raging against the dark.'**_

_**'Warriors on the edge of life and death!"**_

_**'Shooouting my refusal to lay down and dieeeee!'**_

Nene and Linna looked at each other. "You're insane, you know that don't you?" Linna said plaintively. She shook her head, a small grin sneaking onto her face. A daredevil to the end.

Further conversation was cut off as thundering, whining air struck the force field. For two long minutes, they cut through the edge of the atmosphere at incredibly high speeds. Air superheated and left a glowing trail behind them. After just a few minutes, the glow finally subsided

Iron Man sighed and relaxed. He tried to work some kinks out of his shoulder as he checked out how long it would take for his systems to recharge.

"We're alive!" Linna shouted.

"For another twenty minutes." Nene stared morbidly at the new countdown timer.

Tony chuckled and shook his head. He'd already exhausted his reaction mass, but his contra-gravity generators were still working. "Let's see if we can get somewhere first."

"Sylia! We're accelerating!" Nene screamed out in surprise.

Sylia swiveled her head towards their rescuer. "Are you behind that?"

Iron Man nodded. "I'm going to try and find someplace to set down. There are several abandoned facilities out here and... the SHIELD orbital platform. Let's try for that."

"What about Genaros Station?" Linna asked, thinking about the USSD.

"Sorry, that doesn't ring any bells." He'd better get on the horn and see if they'd be welcome with SHIELD.

Sylia turned off her communications and carefully touched her helmet to Nene's helmet. "Turn off your radio."

Nene blinked as she heard the muffled voice. She complied and yelled back, "Sylia?"

"Good, it works! Nene, we need more information about our rescuer and where we're headed. We might not be out of danger yet."

"Righty-o!" Nene extended her communication wings and started to seriously try to tap into anything nearby. She had several TV satellites in moments, but hit a jackpot when she found a telephone communication satellite.

She blinked in surprise and rechecked what she'd found from the TV satellites. Whistling softly to herself, she then tapped into the world network, like a phantom slipping into a crowded school. And far, far easier than she would have liked, she glumly thought to herself.

Let's see. He called himself Iron Man. Silly name, Nene thought to herself. Gah! What outmoded data query engines. Let's see. For minutes she stared at the display. This was just too odd. It was like an episode of the old Twighlight Zone.

She touched her helmet to Sylia's. "Sylia... this is too weird! It says we're in the past, but it isn't right! Things are... different."

"What do you mean?" Sylia asked after a moments pause.

"Well, their Internet says they have super-heroes. Like out of some sort of comic book."

"Like Maxim?" Sylia noted dryly.

"Oh. Yeah." Nene felt a buzzing in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like laughter. She'd almost forgotten what Maxim had said about other worlds and dimensions.

"Tune to 250khz, that's the frequency they use on this station for public communication," Iron Man directed.

Suddenly the Sun was blocked from view, dragging their gaze towards the large space station, which was painted white. Golden eagles in a circular emblem adorned the outside. It was quite blocky, with large solar panel and several shuttles docked in a row. They slowed down, as they seemed to drift up to an airlock. Inside the large airlock, space suited figures stood on the 'ground,' rifles ready but not aimed at them.

One of the figures walked up, his footsteps odd and jerky due to magnets holding him down. "I'm Major Brown, Iron Man. I understand these are the refugees you were talking about?" he asked over the radio.

The red and gold figure nodded as he shook hands. "It's been a while. I see you've kept ahead of schedule for the construction." He held out his Avengers ID for verification.

"We're going to have to ask them to strip off that armor while they're aboard. Unless the can produce documentation for top-secret clearance," the officer said with an officious tone. "This is a top security facility."

"What?" Sylia cried out in startlement.

Major Brown turned towards her and nodded with his upper body. "Sorry, Ma'am. Orders. If you like, we can give you some privacy so that your identities aren't compromised."

Sylia smiled tightly to herself as she raised her visor. It was safe to do that in the shadows here. "It's not like we wear masks under our helmets. I am just worried about the suits themselves. They are very expensive."

"Ah. Well, if you like, you can watch as they're stored locked away."

Sylia finally nodded, sliding the armored visor back down. With little burst of thrusters, they maneuvered into the airlock. "Pardon me for asking, but who exactly are you people?"

"SHIELD is an international counter-terrorism organization, specializing in intelligence and threats that most governments aren't capable of dealing with. Mostly international paramilitary organizations and paranormal humans."

"I guess that makes sense." Sylia hadn't really thought about the fact that normal humans must have formed this sort of agency to deal with super threats.

How very typical.

Priss fumed as the last person entered. What was going on? She knew enough English to translate some hip phrases for her songs, but this was entirely different. She was caught unprepared as gravity slowly reasserted itself on her body. She and Nene stumbled, knocking into each other and falling down.

"Sorry about that! We only run about two-thirds a gee up here."

"Baka!" Priss said hotly as she stood back up. She wasn't sure if she was referring to herself, Nene or Major Brown.

Sylia slipped her helmet off after the pressure equalized and took a moment to explain that they were going to have to un-armor to the rest of her team. Reluctantly they shed their armor and piled it into four armored crates that were brought in. They were sealed up and locked by a SHIELD officer in a duty uniform. The simple, snug and blue body suit had matching boots and gold eagle insignia emblems on its shoulders. Iron Man stepped away to talk to a commanding female just down the hall.

"So now what?" Nene asked, blushing slightly. The inner suits were too skin-tight and revealing!

Major Brown took his own helmet off, allowing the Knight Sabers to actually see him for the first time. The clean cut Negro with a square jaw grinned and replied, "Pardon me for saying this, but you look like hell. Would you like somewhere to clean up? After that, we'd like to ask you some questions."

Nene patted her matted and sticky hair. She nodded furiously.

Sylia sighed and nodded her agreement finally. A blond haired man led them to a small private room. A quick look around showed that it had four bunks and a very small shower in the corner. Lockers in the wall held more of the dark blue jumpsuits.

Nene wanted to take the first shower to get her puke out of her hair. Everyone agreed about that!

"So, what's going on, Sylia? Who are these guys and what do they want with us?" Linna asked, wishing for a moment that she had a headband to keep her hair out of her eyes.

Behind her Nene struggled to scrub herself clean in the little water closet like shower.

"Yeah! What sort of goofy place is this?" Priss demanded.

Sylia pursed her lips. "This is an alternate universe, as closely as Nene and I can tell. A place where Maxim and her kind live. Or something very close to it."

"So we get to see more people like Polarion around? And we gave up our armor? That doesn't make me feel safe!" Linna exclaimed.

"Did you want to argue the point while we were running out of air?" Sylia inquired, eyebrows arching.

Linna opened her mouth in a silent 'O.' A second later she finally responded, "I'd forgotten that." She put a big cheesy grin on her face to hide her nervousness. "Doh."

Priss shrugged and crossed her arms as she leaned up against the wall. "So now what?"

"We talk to our host and see what can be done to send us home. If it's possible."

Nene stepped out just in time to hear that. "So... we could be stuck here?" Her voice quavered and nearly broke.

Sylia nodded her head slowly.

* * *

Major Brown turned in his seat as the four women were escorted in. They were still wearing those skintight uniforms of their own odd design. Were those cyber ports up near the neck? He stood up and gestured at the open seats around the small table. "Ladies? If you don't mind."

Iron Man turned and followed them into the room. Hmm, interesting, he thought to himself. Neural sensors in the entire suit?

"Not at all," Sylia replied nodding her head in polite gratitude. The Knight Sabers had decided to stay in their inner suits, just in case. It was just a little cold and inconvenient.

"Coffee? Tea? Please, help yourselves." Brown sat back down and pulled out a few folders and marking down some information. "If you don't mind, can I get your names?" A small laptop next to him searched for information as he glanced over at it.

"Sylia Stingray. This is Priss Asigari, Linna Yamazaki and Nene Romanova." Giving their names was a calculated risk. But they had so little to bargain with right now. And if she was right, it wouldn't matter.

"Where are you from? What were you doing on that space ship? It doesn't fit any known registration currently being used." He touched the screen, following some information tags.

Linna and Priss glanced at each other across the table. Sylia finally spoke up, speaking deliberately. "We believe we are from another Earth, brought here by accident. We were on that spaceship confiscating contraband. During that operation, we were attacked and had to take off to save our lives. Partway during the attack some of the contraband equipment was used to send us here, to our deaths I presume."

Major Brown continued writing for a second. "Hmm. Well, there's nothing intrinsically illegal about your suits and our long range sensors do agree about the possibility of a dimensional shift. As long as you don't cause any problems, I'll see about sending you back to Earth on the next shuttle. That's only a few hours away."

Sylia blinked in surprise. "That easily?"

Iron Man's distorted voice gave him an odd chuckle. "This isn't the first time that we've had marooned dimensional visitors. We just barely managed to get the Squadron Supreme home last year. I'll personally talk to my boss about looking for ways to send you home."

"You going to hang around for the shuttle, Shell Head?"

"If you don't mind. I think I'll stick with the young ladies until I'm sure they're being treated properly."

Sylia frowned. "And how do you fit in to this?"

"I just happened to be the fastest person to the scene today. I'm doing my good Samaritan deed for the day," Iron Man replied jauntily.

"You are a civilian?"

"Civilian super-hero, any ways."

"If you don't mind, I've got some work to do," Major Brown said as he stood up.

Nene looked up from where she was translating what was going on for Priss. "Hey! Can we look around? I've never been in space before!"

Linna groaned loudly, hiding her eyes behind her closed hand theatrically. Priss glanced over at her theatrics with worry in her eyes. What sort of trouble was Nene getting in?

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask that you stay in this room or the bunk room that you used to clean up in."

"Rats."

* * *

The large white shuttle, based on the old US space shuttle but of much greater girth, floating serenely through the void towards the SHIELD space station. Sitting in the cockpit, two men of average build looked at different screens and gauges with cold eyes.

"T-minus five seconds. Five, four, three, two, one, zero. Operation Chicken Little is a go," the one on the left said to his companion.

"That is confirmed. Jettisoning the cargo and preparing to receive troops. Hail Hydra!"

"Hail Hydra!"

* * *

Sylia paused and looked up at the ceiling where a small speaker was mounted. "That sounds like our shuttle." It had been quiet while they waited.

Iron Man nodded. "That it was. They'll be an hour or so..." Explosions suddenly interrupted him. "What the?" He exclaimed even as he moved towards the door.

The door opened just as he was about to open it. Two figures in green and yellow space armor had guns held at the ready. "Die for the glory Hydra! Hail... Hydra? Iron Man?" The two agents of Hydra looked at each other for just a second. With a quick shrug they turned back to the red and gold figure, unloading their energy rifles into him.

The Golden Avenger stood his ground, seemingly unaffected. His repulsors slammed both of his attackers against the far wall, knocking them senseless with a loud shriek of ionized air. "You four, stay here! I have to help defend the station."

Sylia turned and looked at her troops after he left. "As much as I appreciate that man for his rescue, I think we'd better take some steps to protect ourselves. Linna, Priss, if you would be so kind as to take those nice rifles and lead the way towards our suits?"

Priss grinned ferally. "You bet."

Linna nodded grimly in acknowledgment.

As soon as they grabbed the rifles, they headed towards the small room they'd left their armors in. The door opened easily. Priss pried at her locker, trying to open it up. "No go! It's locked with some sort of electronic lock."

"Nene! Do you think you can access it?" Sylia waited for Nene's nod. "Priss, Linna, watch the door."

Priss happened to glance backwards to see Nene and Sylia meditating, their hands touching the lock panel. Her eyebrows creased in confusion. What were they doing? Suddenly the latch opened itself, followed quickly by the other three crates locks as Nene's gaze drifted to them.

"Come and get your suits, you two!" Nene called out.

Shortly they were garbed in comforting metal and composites. Priss carefully watched Sylia and Nene, but they didn't seem to be any different.

Suddenly, the door was blown off of its hinges as a squad of Hydra soldiers charged in; expecting to find SHIELD armored squad powering up their armors.

They were unprepared for the women wearing unusual and unorthodox looking colorful armor. Hesitating just a second, their shots couldn't quite track the suddenly moving Knight Sabers.

Priss yelled out in Japanese, "Oh, no you don't!" Three spikes cut through the light armor of the green and yellow troops.

"Take it in hand to hand! Use your suits strength to knock them out." Sylia followed her own advice, corkscrewing in from the air to slam into a cluster of them.

It took conscious effort to not use their close-in weapons. But even so, the exoskeleton-enhanced muscles defeated the Hydra agents in a short matter of time.

"I'm getting a power buildup one hundred meters away! I... I think that they may have taken control of the reactor here!" Nene said.

"What sort of reactor?" Sylia asked as she ran down a hallway. She was quickly followed by the rest of the team.

"Um, I'm not sure. It's pretty huge though. Wait... I'm getting something on a radio channel. Anti-matter breach _imminent_?" the red Knight Saber blurted, the last word was almost screeched out.

"_That_ sounds bad," Priss said sagely.

They clanked around a corner at high speed. In front of them was a closed door, armored and imposing. "Nene, crack it. Priss, you're lead. Linna and I'll flank you."

"Got it! Right behind you guys!" Nene yelled out from the access panel, cables snaking back into her armor after they disconnected.

The door opened suddenly. In front of them lay a circular room, four stories high. A reactor of some sort took up most of the room. A firefight in between SHIELD and Hydra agents was in full progress. Some Hydra agents seemed to have taken over a control booth.

Crackling energies encompassed Iron Man, immobilizing him next to the control room windows. Taking in the view almost instantly, Sylia barked out orders. "Priss, take that control booth. Keep the damage down. Nene, you need to be right behind her. Linna and I will run interference. Knight Sabers, Go!"

Hydra and SHIELD agents watched the newcomers warily. Priss took five running steps and them leaped at the wall of the massive room. She leaped again, thrusting rocketing her ever further up. Sylia and Linna unleashed a fusillade of energy at the Hydra agents that were lining up shots at the dark blue Knight Saber.

Battered wings swung out on the white Knight Sabers back. She took to the air, still blasting away. She suddenly jinked sideways, passing right behind Priss as she barreled through the window. A gleaming sword snapped out of its sheath and locked in position. She then slashed at one of the floating balls that were trapping Iron Man, cleaving it in half and freeing him.

Nene yelled as she followed Priss through the window, clubbing an unfortunate Hydra agent when he tried to intercept her. Hefting him with her enhanced strength, she tossed him into another two terrorists. Seeing that no one was going to attack her while Priss was there, she started plugging her suit into the system.

Freed of the force field trap, Iron Man unleashed his considerable firepower into the Hydra agents, knocking them back and out. He drifted backwards into the control room, the white Knight Saber right behind him.

"Nene, how's it going?" Sylia asked.

"I should have it cracked in no time at all. But the coolant system for the containment grid is leaking. It needs to be fixed." The screen in front of her had information scrolling rapidly across it.

"Tell me where, and I'll see what I can do to fix it!" Iron Man's synthesized voiced boomed out in Japanese. He took to the air, headed for the relevant machinery.

"Linking... downloading specifications to him. Almost through the viral mush they downloaded into the computers system. It's really slowed the computers down frightfully." The screen in front of Nene changed, patterns and diagrams appearing.

Priss walked over to see what was going on. Behind her, a lone Hydra agent stood up and leaped at her. Seemingly nonchalantly, she dipped to the side even as she backhanded him with her gauntlet.

"And we got it! Systems are nominal." Nene sagged in relief. That had been a bit close. Even now, the containment grid was slightly unstable.

A SHIELD agent finally made it to the control room. In English, he shouted, "What's going on in here?"

She responded, "We've taken control here and stabilized the reactor." Sylia flipped up her visor.

"That's one good piece of news, any ways." He tacitly ignored the armors that were supposed to be locked up. He tapped some buttons on his communicator that was over his left ear. "We're starting to take control elsewhere. I guess all that's left is to mop up and then get you ladies down to Earth."

Sylia nodded, her expression thoughtful.

* * *

The wind ruffled Tony Stark's hair as the SHIELD VTOL jet lifted off into the blue sky. He waved as he walked over to the four armored women that had been dropped like a hot potato by the government. "Over here!"

"Mr. Stark?" Sylia asked, nonplussed at the handsome thirty-ish looking man in front of her.

"That's me. I had a chance to talk to Iron Man about your situation." He gestured towards the large house behind him. "I've got more than enough room to house you while we search for a way to send you home."

"That is very generous," Sylia noted.

"Money has to be good for something other than sitting in banks!" Tony smiled amiably, turned and walked towards the main doors.

Sylia followed, just a step ahead of the rest of the Knight Sabers. Aching joints recalled the fact that she'd been in her armor for almost ten hours.

"It's a smart house, so all you have to do is ask and it'll direct you where you need to go. Jocasta, I'd like you to meet the Knight Sabers."

A large hologram appeared in the air. A digital Egyptian headdress accentuated the strangely stylized female face. "It's good to meet you. Tony, you have a call waiting on you. It's from Stark/Fujikawa's vice president in charge of development."

"Thanks," Tony replied, walking off into the house. His shoulders had suddenly tensed up.

Sylia squinted for just a second at the hologram. "Hello, Jocasta. My name is Sylia. This is Priss, Linna and Nene."

The other Knight Sabers responded verbally when Sylia pointed them out. Nene introduced herself cheerfully, "Hi!"

"We'd like to get out of these suits and get into something more comfortable." Sylia removed her helmet.

"Please follow the arrows," Jocasta commanded gently.

Holographic arrows appeared, leading them to an unobtrusive elevator. In moments they were led to an automated laboratory/workshop.

"Hmm. Interesting." Sylia looked over the consoles. "Would it be possible to be able to use this facility to repair our suits?"

The holographic head didn't answer for a second. "Mr. Stark has now authorized its use. I would suggest resting first. Would you like the use of the Jacuzzi?"

"Jacuzzi?" Priss asked. It had been the only word that she had understood.

Sylia glanced over at the singer. "Jocasta? Priss doesn't understand English very well. Can you communicate in Japanese?"

"Certainly," the artificial intelligence replied in Japanese.

"And yes, I think the Jacuzzi sounds delightful," Sylia replied.

The other Knight Sabers agreed vocally and loudly.

* * *

"Vandalism?" Tony asked, steepling his finger in front of him. On the screen inserted in his desk an oriental figure was shown.

"Yes. Secured areas and secret developments have both been broken into, seemingly with ease. No trace of the perpetrator is ever left. It's uncanny," the man said curtly. "The board of directors is getting desperate."

"And you want me to send in Iron Man?" he surmised vocally.

"Do not forget, Anthony Stark, that much of your wealth is still tied with Stark/Fujikawa. It is in your own best interests."

"Yes. So I see." Tony stared off into the bay through the windows for a moment. "What high profile projects are you developing?"

"That is privileged information, Mr. Stark. I would be stepping on many toes to tell you."

"Mr. Watanabe, I am going to need that information. I've been the victim of corporate espionage before, so I may be able to determine who and what they are after. I already have several suspects in mind."

Daniel Watanabe frowned. "Very well. Stark/Fujikawa is licensed to continue development on high security power plant. Very recently, the team assigned to it made a breakthrough, resulting in magnitudes of savings in manufacturing."

"Power plant?" A clammy hand gripped his heart.

"Yes. A beta particle generator that you had purchased the rights to when you were in charge. An amazing piece of..."

"The Ghost!"

"Excuse me? He is nothing but a myth!" Daniel showed his surprise.

"Much more than that. He's tried to kill me personally and he's successfully tangled with Iron Man." Tony came to an abrupt decision. "I'll send you Iron Man. He should be able to flush him out if he's still there."

"Thank you, Stark-san. I will inform the board of directors." The screen went blank.

Tony keyed his main office on the screen. "Pepper? I'm going to be unavailable for the rest of the day. If you need me, contact me on my cellular phone."

"Got it. Are you all right, Tony? You look like you've seen a ghost," the red haired office manager said.

"Not yet. But I'm sure I will before the end of the day."

* * *

Sylia examined a green shoulder guard by eye before setting it underneath an x-ray scanner. All of the suits of armor were in some state of disassembly on different tables. Small robotic arms were busy disassembling a red and black helmet behind her and laying it out carefully.

A thunking metallic sound at the door drew her attention. The door slid open quietly, letting a bedraggled armored figure drearily stomp in.

Iron Man blinked in surprise at the woman busy in his lab. Oh, yeah. He had agreed to let them use the lab. But he really needed to fix his suit after his latest encounter with the Ghost. "Good morning," he said, taking in the lateness of the time. When was the last time he'd slept?

"Good morning, Iron Man. You look like you've seen some action," Sylia noted curiously.

"Yes. I had an altercation with a corporate spy. He's upgraded his weapons since the last time I'd fought him. I'd better go talk to my boss about it. They have a history." Iron Man turned around and walked out. Even through the armor's synthesizer, you could hear how tired he was.

Sylia shrugged and went back to work. Minutes later, a slightly rumpled Tony Stark wandered in, followed by a compact mass of red and gold metal. "Hmm? Oh, hello. I hope you don't mind, but I've got some repairs to affect on Iron Man's armor."

"Not at all. You are being kind by letting me borrow your facility." The leader of the Knight Sabers gave him a speculative look. Interesting.

The floating bundle of red and gold unfolded into an open, hollow shell, vaguely man shaped. Tools and diagnostic sensors units unfolded from the ceiling. Different modules were removed and replaced or repaired.

Sylia studiously ignored him for several hours. Out of the blue, she realized that she hadn't heard anything from him for a while. She finished what she was doing and looked over at him. A small smile graced her lips. "What an interesting puzzle you are, Mr. Stark," Sylia muttered to herself. She stretched and stood, then draped a lab coat across his sleeping form. Casual steps led her to the elevator and back up into the house proper.

Quiet voices speaking in Japanese led her to the pool, where the rest of the Knight Sabers were relaxing under the sun. Ugly bruises adorned Priss and Lina, marring the otherwise peaceful scene. Quiet snores seemed to be emanating from the smallest Knight Saber.

"I don't know. This place doesn't look that different," Priss said. "I'm thinking about going into town. Want to come along?"

"Sure, I guess. I did some checking on their 'net. This place is really different. Their space program is decades ahead of where it's supposed to be, but there's almost no commerce in space. It's really odd." Lina shifted slightly. "Can you believe they have some guy claiming to be a Norse god on their super team?"

"Really? Did he look godly?" Priss asked teasingly.

Lina sighed dreamily. "Oh, yes. I'm not usually into Aryan types, but he's so handsome. You should see the shoulders on him."

"I thought you'd be interested in our host? He's loaded, handsome and he's got a super-hero on the payroll!"

Sylia cleared her throat. "Good afternoon, girls. How are you recuperating?"

The two women turned towards her. "Pretty good. It's nice to relax." Priss slid her glassed back on.

"Yeah. Soaking really helped with the aches too. Except for my leg," Lina said, scowling at the offending appendage.

"Is it hurting?"

"No, Sylia. Not really. It just aches right above **_it_**. Even if it is really high quality." Lina rubbed her left leg's thigh. "It's hard to imagine that just a few days ago that it was shattered with no hope of fully healing."

Sylia looked her with a calculating, piercing gaze. "Nothing else? No... regret?"

"About getting it replaced? Some. Not much. I was _not_ going to be a cripple for the rest of my life."

Silence stretched uncomfortably. Lina had a very stubborn look on her face.

"Well, don't over do the sunbathing. As a matter of fact, I think I'd better rescue Nene before she burns herself." Sylia walked over to the object of her words and shook her shoulder. "Nene. Wake up, Nene."

"Um? What's going on?"

"It's lunchtime and I think you should get out of the sun. You look pretty well rested. I'd like you to help me repair our suits this afternoon." Sylia looked Nene over. Surprisingly, she didn't look like she'd burned herself in the sun.

"I guess so. Let me go change."

Minutes later she appeared, wearing a similar casual slacks and blouse type combo that Sylia was already wearing. The four of them ate their meal quietly, not feeling the need to fill in the silence with talking.

Later, as they entered the laboratory, Sylia turned to Nene. "Nene? I'd like you to help repair the batteries in the suits. Lina's hardsuit needs some of its muscle fibers replaced too. I'm not sure how we'll manage that."

"Anything else?"

"I checked their level of IC's. It's not quite up to specs for what we need, so we'll have to bypass damaged circuits or replace with what we can. I was reading some scientific journals and they have some astounding advances in energy storage systems. And I want to see what I can do about true flight capabilities for the suits."

"Okay! I'll check around online to see what I can find, too." Nene blinked in surprise as she spotted the sleeping figure slumped over the table. "Um, Sylia? What's he doing here?"

"He's sleeping. He worked himself until he collapsed. And it is his home after all."

"Hmm."

* * *

Tony yawned and stretched. He pushed the tray of food away from him, back into the dumb waiter. He turned back to the screen of information. The suit tested out to 99.99. Not quite airline standards, but they didn't work with as much experimental technology either.

He turned to check on the other users of the lab, seeing them reassemble the different suits and going over the neural interface suits closely. "You seem to have made some good progress today," he said admiringly.

"I have to say that it had a lot to do with the fine facilities here." Sylia gestured at her own suit. "With some of the technology here, I was actually able to make some very useful changes too."

"Oh?"

"Mostly in power systems and thrusters. I really couldn't change much more." Sylia neglected to tell him that she'd taken the time to commit to memory a vast scientific storehouse of exoteric technology that just didn't exist on her world.

"Interesting. As a point of good news, HOMER has come across a few lines of inquiry into the problem of getting you ladies home." He stretched suddenly, his back giving off pops and snaps of complaints. "But that's for later. All work and no play makes Tony a dull boy. If you don't mind, It would be my pleasure to show off the night life of Seattle."

"I would be delighted. I don't get the chance to visit the States very often. And this would be the first time that I've been to this interesting city." Sylia turned to look at the handsome businessman.

"And you, Miss Romanova?" he inquired.

"I, uh, just don't feel much up to it." It just didn't feel right going out without Mackie. HOMER?

* * *

"So the other two girls had already left to get some shopping done?" Tony asked, looking much refreshed and cleaned up. He was wearing a very nice business suit, dark gray with a black shirt.

"Yes. I believe Priss dragged Linna off, citing boredom. Linna was only too happy to go shopping with the money you provided." Sylia was wearing a daring evening dress, a pale light blue in color.

"Do you have any preference in the evenings entertainment?"

"An American Musical of some sort would be wonderful."

"Perhaps Cats?"

"I would be delighted." Sylia smiled politely for his pleasure. It had been such a long time since she'd been on a date.

"Bye-bye you two!" Nene called out, acting extra cute to annoy Sylia a tiny bit. "Tee hee hee!" The moment they were out of sight, she became far more serious. It had been a long time since she'd done a serious hacking job. She went to the computer terminal in her guest room and started to surf the quaintly termed 'Internet.' "So Jocasta, you are an artificial intelligence?"

"Yes, Nene." The intelligence watched the girl closely. She was quite a bit different from most of the people that she'd ever had to deal with. "I was created by a robot known as Ultron. He used the brain patterns of the heroine known as the Wasp as the basis for my engrams."

"How does that work?"

"The pattern engrams give the basis for the beginning of my emotional makeup. Without them, I would have had to take years to develop a morality and ethical basis for my actions. It also plays a part in some of my likes and dislikes."

"So you're a copy of this Wasp." Nene had this picture of a half human, half wasp like creature wearing a super hero costume in her mind.

"Not at all. I share many similarities with the Wasp, but I am my own individual." Jocasta image a picture of the petite Avenger in one of her myriad of costumes that she'd worn during her career as one of the most preeminent heroes of the world. Other than the insect-like wings that were on her back, she appeared startling normal.

Nene giggled suddenly. "Not how I imagined how she'd look. I can be so silly sometimes." Mentally, she traced the many pathways and data conduits that existed within the house, finally finding a reference to HOMER. Strange, HOMER was another AI, but primitive in comparison to Jocasta.

The female AI paused a moment. She had almost felt something within the data network of the house, but could find no trace of it now. "She is one of the founding Avengers. Quite resourceful, given her limited powers of shrinking and flight."

Nene continued to worm her way within the computers of the Stark residence even as she kept talking to its security program, distracting it with her chatter.

* * *

"Isn't this much better?" Priss asked, stepping into a local bar club that advertised in Japanese. They had ended up in the 'Little Tokyo' section of Chinatown.

"It is nice to hear people speaking Japanese again. Although you could be a bit nicer to our host. After all, he did pay for all of our nice clothes. And your rental motorcycle." Linna looked around the bar, seeing nothing outwardly unusual.

Priss slid into a booth. "Yeah, yeah. I hear you. I just had to get out of that creepy house. Not even Sylia has a boomer watching you all the time!"

"It's called a smart house. And the really rich people of MegaTokyo had 'em too." In her mind, Linna was cataloging the cost of the house in New Yen.

"Yay. He's your ideal mate."

"Hey! What are you insinuating?"

"What? Tell me truthfully that you weren't thinking of dating him!" Priss had a smug expression on her face.

"I don't even know if he dating anyone!" Linna protested weakly.

"So you were thinking about it!" she crowed.

"The thought had passed my mind once or twice. I mean, he is handsome, in that non-Japanese American sort of way."

A waitress walked up to take their orders. "I'll have a shot of gin while the compulsive-dater here will have an Eibesu beer."

"I am not a compulsive dater!" Linna whined.

They were suddenly distracted by three men walking into the bar. They just about screamed Yakuza, from the tailored suits and the dark sunglasses worn in the dark bar.

"There he is."

"Logan-san, you are not wanted nor needed here." Chairs made a scuffling sound from across the room. The silence was only broken by the sound of the juke box that kept playing. The lead man had his arms crossed, waiting expectantly.

The man in the shadowed booth took a calculated swig of his bear. "And what if I don't agree with you?"

"We are prepared to persuade you to. Do not think that the memory of your wife will make a difference here."

Priss got her first view of the bestial man as his head came out of the shadows. His brutish features were in a feral snarl, his canines giving him a wolfish look. "Bub, that was the wrong thing to say!" he roared out, slamming the table away as he surged to his feet.

The lead Yakuza seemed unperturbed as he pulled out a tazer-like device that he shot at 'Logan.' A filament web shot out and ensnared him, electricity playing along it. The short, feral man collapsed into a twitching mass of bunched muscles.

"There going to kill him," Priss muttered to herself. Without any warning, she threw the napkin holder at the hand holding the tazer, causing him to drop it. She was only a step or two behind it, body tackling a second man to the ground.

"Priss! Are you nuts?" her companion asked even as dipped underneath a knife thrust. She spun, kicking him on the temple, felling him in one shot.

" 'preciate the help, girls. But I'm fine by myself!" the one called Logan called out as he put his fist deeply into the stomach of the last one. The duo hadn't even seen him recover or move.

"I think we need to leave!" Priss sang out, happy as a kitten with a ball of yarn. She pulled out a large revolver, smirking happily.

"Sure-? Where did you get that?" the dancer asked.

"Money talks-" Priss started to explain.

"Down!" the short, bestial man yelled out even as he tackled them to the ground.

The few remaining patrons followed the order prudently. With a roaring stutter, gunfire blazed in through the windows, racking back and forth. Logan was already crawling along the ground towards the back door. He shifted to a crouch and then slammed through the door into the two gunmen that were standing too close to the door. He seemed unconcerned by the two other men that were leveling Uzi's at him.

The first gunman was slammed against a wall as a loud retort cracked out. His companion looked up just in time to see Priss get control of her gun, swinging it back around. He dived behind an alleyway, chips of stone spraying behind him.

"I like it!" Priss shouted gleefully.

"You are an ape woman, you know that?" Linna retorted.

"Less lip, more running!" Logan shouted. He couldn't let them get hurt. How could they know he was in relatively little danger back there?

* * *

"Oooh. Neato! File that away in memory core file 2-A32," Nene said happily to herself.

"What was that, Nene?" Jocasta asked serenely.

"Nothing. Just tooling around a bit." Deep within the web of the house, she noticed a sensor (43Alpha, Sector UW 15) giving a diagnostic failure. 'Say, what's that?' she mentally transmitted to the AI.

'Nothing too serious. I'll focus a camera-?' Jocasta's voice cut off in surprise. 'Nene, I want you to run from the house, right now!'

'Why? He doesn't look dangerous,' Nene replied. He looked muscular, but squat. His chest and head were covered in dark red armor. His helmet looked very comical, with his round, dome-like helmet. Without thinking she unplugged from the computer she was attached to. In moments, she was running down the hall and into the sub-basement laboratories.

Jocasta had switched her attention to slowing the advance of the rampaging super villain. She was rapidly calculating the different suppression weapons that she had available. The odds of any of these weapons stopping him were small and diminishing.

With practiced motions, Nene slipped into her crimson and black hardsuit. She blasted off with her new thrusters, rocketing down the halls and out the front door of the posh home. She spun once in the air and then landed at the edge of the water.

The water in front of her was boiling and frothing. Suddenly the huge figure of the Juggernaut broke the surface, casually ripping electrified cables off of himself while he walked forward.

"Nene! Get out of there!" Jocasta shouted, a holographic representation of herself appearing beside the lone Knight Saber.

"I can do this! I'm not a wimp!" Nene shouted, charging the huge figure.

Even though his build was squat and muscular, the Juggernaut towered above the high-heeled armored heroine. "Ha! Don't make me laugh! You're no Iron Man! And even Iron Man can't stop... The Juggernaut!"

Nene didn't reply, letting loose with a powerful pulse from her plasma projectors. She instinctively aimed for the unarmored shoulders of the large target. She was shocked to see it just bounce, as harmless as rain striking concrete. "What?"

"That pea-shooter ain't gonna help you, girly." Marko Cain swung a mighty ham-handed fist at the lithe figure that ducked adroitly.

"What the-? Does he have some kind of force field?" the one time red-head asked rhetorically. She was startled when the gigantic man responded.

"Yup. I can't be hurt. I can't be stopped. You're in trouble." He swung again, smashing a ten foot crater into the ground with the single blow.

New micro-jets whined to life, lifting her into the air to hover fifty feet away from him. Special sensor panels sprang open. On her HUD, strange spectral data flooded into her comp. "I... don't get it. Where's the power source? Heck, where's the electronics?"

With a low laugh, the huge figure ripped up a huge chunk of concrete and steel from the dock and threw it at the startled figure with his prodigious might. It must have weighed hundreds of tons!

"No!"

* * *

Sylia Stingray was remarkably well educated about American society and culture, Tony Stark thought to himself. He was finding it an enjoyable evening at the play and then later at a restaurant of her choosing. He would have been bemused to discover that Sylia was thinking almost the same thing in response.

Their quiet evening was suddenly shattered by the urgent beeping of a pager. He palmed it while flashing her an apologetic expression. He stood up suddenly. "I'm sorry. I have an intruder alert back at the house. It's something where I had better send in Iron Man and had better keep in close contact with him."

Sylia's eyes narrowed. "At the house? Is anyone hurt?"

Tony looked uncertain for a second. "The shorter girl, Nene, may be hurt. Jocasta wasn't sure."

"Then I'm coming with you." Sylia stood up while grabbing her new purse.

"Ah..." He seemed to be uncertain.

"I'm sure you can find somewhere to slip away to later," the Knight Saber's leader said as she walked quickly towards the exit.

Tony narrowed his own eyes in speculation. In moments, they were outside in his custom roadster, zooming through the air.

The silence stretched between them. Finally, Tony Stark spoke, "You know."

"I conjectured." Sylia nodded her head to emphasize the point.

He smiled wanly. "I guess that's what I get for letting you stay at my place."

His guest smiled back in reply. "Yes."

Tony shook his head, getting his thoughts in focus. "I hope Nene isn't hurt. I may have to call in a specialist to deal with the Juggernaut. I understand he's vulnerable to telepathy and _magic_. Things I don't deal with regularly."

"What other weakness does he have?" the dimensionally displaced refugee asked. Magic? Why the odd emphasis?

"Nothing."

He couldn't be serious, could he? Sylia thought incredulously. Yet, he seemed to be. Deadly serious, in fact.

* * *

"Ow. Owie." Artificial muscles strained futilely to free her. Panic gripped her with a surge of adrenaline.

The Juggernaut was stomping towards the house, ignoring the lasers that tried to burn him. The large mound of concrete that had crushed the unknown (to him) superhero suddenly exploded. The battered figure stood woozily where the mass had landed.

"Hey! You might actually some sort of challenge!" the giant warrior crowed, even as he charged her.

The lone Knight Saber barely had time to look up at the onrushing villain before she was blasted through the garage via an overgrown body tackle. She skidded across the ground, leaving bits and pieces of smashed armor behind her. "I'm still alive?" she muttered to herself.

"You're a cutey under all that armor, you know that?" the unstoppable scion of Cyttorak said with a chuckle. "Not that your looks will save you!" With startling swiftness, he grabbed her shoulders with both ham-hands, gripping painfully tight.

Metal bent and screeched, even as her bones tried to shift. The shattered remains of her helmet fell off. Nene couldn't stop herself, tears streaming down her face. She was going to die and nobody was going to be here to save her.

_Save yourself, Nene. Don't let yourself die! Fight! FIGHT!_ a small voice yelled at the top of its mental voice. _Fight for Mackie!_

Nene heard the fading super-heroine's voice, dimly. "Let... me... go!" she suddenly yelled out. With a strength that surprised herself and her opponent, she broke free.

"What the-? How'd you get so strong? Heck! How'd you _survive_ my strength?" Cain Marko exclaimed in surprise.

"I've got... real super powers." The Knight Saber's features hardened, eyes narrowing. "You tried to kill me. You didn't have any idea that I could survive that!"

"Yeah? So? I'm still going to kill you! Nothing is going to stop me, either." The Juggernaut's mouth twisted into a nasty grin. He quelled the little voice in the back of his mind, his oft ignored conscious. This was going to be fun. He charged forward suddenly in a line-backer's charge.

Instinctively, Nene jumped into the air as she would have in her armor. Her powerful leg muscles flung her far further into the air than her old suit's jet assisted leap would have.

"I hate flyers," Cain muttered to himself. He was pretty lucky, he thought to himself. She seemed pretty clueless. Novices are fun to toy with. Heck, he might not even kill her.

Just put her in the hospital.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Juggernaut?" a mechanically distorted voice quipped as it came into range. "Oh, wait, the Blob isn't around much, is he?"

"Iron Man?" Cain's smile just got wider. "Just the man I'm here to squish. You and your boss!"

Let's start a round of pulse bolts, Tony thought to himself. A trip-hammer like wave of energy with the power of a lightning bolt slammed into his foe.

The Juggernaut just laughed at that. It proved as ineffective as anything else.

A sudden explosion encompassed that back of the giant's head, sending him staggering forward for just a second.

"Did that work?" the silvery Knight Saber asked as she landed about forty feet behind the Juggernaut. Her knuckle bombers were smoking.

"I doubt it. He's pretty much impervious to anything we can do to hurt him." Iron Man jetted around the figure, peppering him with repulsor fire.

"Not the most maneuverable thing, is he?" she queried, even as her new thrusters lifted her into the air.

Nene cracked a smile. Let's see what her new muscles were really worth. She waited until the huge man's back was to her before picking him up from behind his knees. "Hyaa!" she yelled out as she threw him into the air. He made a high arc up and out into the water. "Yay! That worked!"

"For a little while. He'll be back," Iron Man said as he hovered over.

"Oh, right! I can fly!" Nene exclaimed, almost as if she were speaking to herself.

Sylia goggled in surprise as Nene lifted off of the ground. She seemed to float in defiance of the laws of gravity. "Interesting little trick there. Did you really have to trash your armor?"

"Oh! No!" Nene exclaimed comically.

"Jocasta? Can you send a drone out with an anti-gravity module from my old modular armor?" Tony asked over the radio link.

"Of course, Iron Man."

"How can Maxim deal with seeing through things?" Nene complained as she stared at the bay where she had thrown the unstoppable menace.

"Maxim?" Iron Man asked.

The youngest Knight Saber turned to the armored warrior. "You're Tony Stark!"

With a deep resigned sigh, he asked, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Your, um, eyes are the same. Identical."

Sylia started laughing quietly. From the damaged home, a robotic drone floated up with a small metallic package.

"I guess I'll have to change my next armor so that you can't see my eyes," Tony said. "First Sylia, then you. I expect that your two friends will show up and figure it out next."

A wake appeared about six hundred feet out in the bay, moving quickly. In just a few moments, the Juggernaut exploded back out of the water to land on the shore. "I'm going to rip your arms off and feed them to you!" he shouted. "I was going to be a nice guy, but no more!"

A roaring sound suddenly interrupted him as a large racing boat slammed into the back on him, sending him staggering. The boat skidded along the ground, even as a figure leaped off right at the edge of the water.

"Alright, someone's gonna die now! I'm through playing around!" The Juggernaut yelled. He was getting truly angry for the first time.

"Hey! It's the Juggy-wimp!" Logan quipped. He smiled nastily, even as his claws sh-clickt into place.

"Wolverine? DIE you little runt!" the titanic man yelled, lashing out with a huge overhand blow. Wolverine let it miss him by just a few inches.

He had underestimated how hard the blow was, as it impacted into the ground right next to him with the force of several tons of TNT. Debris acted as shrapnel, turning the mutant into a twisted ruin. Pained moans were one of the only signs that he hadn't been killed outright

"Ha! I'll have to remember that trick!" Juggernaut crowed.

Click. Iron Man appeared, literally from thin air, behind the unstoppable avatar of destruction. "Up you go. If you don't have anything to push against, you can't move."

"Huh?" Juggernaut managed to say before he started to float off into the air.

With a cybernetic command, Iron Man stopped his ascent at about fifty feet.

"Hey! This ain't fair! Fight me!"

"Fair?" Iron Man asked. "You've got to be kidding! You're a psychopath!"

"A simple and elegant solution. Too bad it was not quick enough for-"

The armored avenger interrupted her as carefully as possible. "Are you going to live?" Iron Man asked the severely injured man on the ground.

"Yeah. Shit that hurts," Logan growled. He managed to stagger to his feet. "Healing factor is going to be working overtime to fix that. Ugh." He staggered but managed to stay on his feet.

"How?" Sylia asked, startled far more than she would admit.

"He has a beneficial mutation of greatly accelerated healing. You're Logan, right? Or better known as the Wolverine of the X-Men," Iron Man asked.

"Right in one, Stark."

Tony gnashed his teeth in frustration. What was it with everybody and figuring out his secret today? "He also has incredibly heightened senses."

Nene floated over. "So you could see his eyes that well too?"

"Nope. Smelled him. Everybody's scents unique."

THOOM. "Ha! My forcefield pushed that right anti-grav gizmo right off my back!" the Juggernaut crowed as he got back to his feet. "Hey, runt, ready to get pounded some more?" The gigantic man suddenly disappeared behind a curtain of explosions and energy blasts.

The blue armored figure and green armored figure stopped firing from the entrance to the house.

Priss suddenly rocketed into the air, snapping out of spin at the last moment. "Yee-ha! This is amazing, Sylia!" she shouted out in her native tongue.

"Priss! Watch out, you're weapons can't hurt him!" Sylia screamed out as Priss swooped near the crater she and Linna had just created with their particle blasters.

From the smoke, one giant, ham-fisted appendage reached out and caught the singer by her helmeted head as she was skimming by.

"Hey, heroes! Better think fast!" the behemoth snarled as he started to exert his strength. The helmet started to crumple in his grip, but Priss had been in this situation before. With an explosive snap, she released herself from the helmet. "Hey, pretty good reflexes there, toots!"

Priss swore at him in Japanese and made a rude, one-fingered gesture as she flipped away.

"So, Iron Man, are these your 'Stark's Angels'?" Wolverine quipped as he charged in. He knew his claws weren't going to do a bit of damage to him. "And you don't happen to have a telepath on call, do you?"

"Stark's Angels?" Sylia asked even as she started to move around to distract the Juggernaut with blaster-fire.

"Television humor. No, I do not happen to have a telepath on call. But removing his helmet is not a bad idea, on general principle." _Full power,_ he mentally directed his armor. Energy sparked across the armor even as he zoomed into the melee between Juggernaut and Wolverine.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you tin-plated idiot? You can't try to out-muscle him!" Wolverine shouted.

'KATHOOOOOM!' went the mighty blow off of the titanic figure's chin, actually moving him back a bit while the giant involuntarily winced.

"Hey! I almost felt that-" Juggernaut was interrupted by the screeching sound of metal as his helmet was removed by the spark-emitting Iron Man. His face looked remarkably normal, if a bit brutish. "Son-of-a-bitch!" In a panic, he hit the armored figure with a powerful punch, smashing him right through the house.

"Iron Man!" chorused everyone else.

"Ha! That'll show you to get in my way!" their enemy called out. His smile vanished a moment later. "Damn."

Iron Man flew back into the area, looking battered and damaged. "Ouch," he deadpanned.

Sylia blinked in surprise. That armor was much tougher than she would have thought. "Impressive." She turned back and blasted at the Juggernaut again.

"You guys can't do anything to me! Why don't you just lay down and die?" the red-headed titan of destruction yelled. He charged Iron Man again. If he fell, none of these other's could do anything to stop him.

Stark winced under his helmet. This was going to give him a headache. "Activate Omega-Psion. Full Power!" He hated testing prototype hardware in the field.

Marko Cain just snarled in glee. He was mere feet from Iron Man when a spark of pinkish energy arced from the helmet in front of him to his own head. Blinding pain screamed through his head. "Telepathic attack? You're not a telepath!"

He staggered one more step, before finally succumbing to the psychic attack. With a groan, he collapsed on top of the nearly comatose Iron Man.

"Iron Man? Are you alright?" Nene asked. She lifted the prone villain off of the red and gold armored figure.

"Not... really. But... I'll live."

* * *

Tony Stark sipped at his bottled water as he watched the young woman lounging around the living room, watching what they considered to be classic television. He headed down to his laboratory to check on the progress of its repairs on the various armors (and replacement helmet for Priss.) His head still throbbed from his self-induced headache from the Omega-Psion unit from just a few hours ago.

"H.O.M.E.R.?"

"Yes, Tony?" the artificial intelligence asked seemingly from the air around him.

"What's the status on the construction of a Time Platform?" Tony sat down on a stool in front of a mass of metal that was growing as robotic arms assembled the items from crates.

"It should be finished shortly. Tuning it to the appropriate dimensional frequency should be a mere matter of calibration and calculation."

"Thanks, H.O.M.E.R." Tony spun around to a computer console, bring up several screens as he started to plug in theorems and calculations for the computers to number-crunch. If he had to say so himself, he was getting pretty good at helping stranded people to get back to their home dimension.

"Tony?" Sylia Stingray asked. "You slipped away from the party." She had a fluffy bathrobe on over her innersuit. She nodded as she saw that her armors were being finished up.

"Sorry, I'm not really feeling up to celebrating much. It should only be another ten or fifteen minutes before we're ready to try sending you home, actually." Tony waved at the nearly completed Time Platform.

"That is good news." Sylia waved to him as she headed upstairs.

Tony suddenly looked around, eyes narrowed in thought. The clatter of robotic waldos and machines humming filled the room.

* * *

"And this is the device that is going to be sending our intrepid adventurers home." Tony directed their attention with one hand. He was once again wearing his armor. Just in case.

"What is it?" Nene asked even while Priss was asking Linna for a translation.

"This is a time platform that I've modified for trans-dimensional variance. A colleague of mine deciphered it and with a bit of tinkering I'm sure it can get you home." He was wearing all but his helmet at this point.

"I heard you were an egg-head on Reed Richard's level, Stark, but I'd never heard that you were working on a time machine too." Logan pulled a long drag on his cigar, then set his teeth around the mangled end of it.

"I've built a few time machines before."

Sylia blinked at that. "Time travel must be possible, but I had no idea that it was feasible with even this sort of technology."

"Actually, your own technology level is not that far from being able to build a time machine. It might be incredibly expensive, but it is doable." Tony nodded to Nene. "I was talking to Nene about this Polarion fellow and I think that he may have been building a time machine as a last trump card, in case the militaries on your world were in a position to defeat him."

"That's right! Maxim told me that he's tried to rewrite history at least once." Nene, out of all of the Knight Sabers, looked oddly out of place. After her hardsuit had been destroyed, Tony had outfitted her in a bodysuit. It was snug, but not as normally tight as the sensor-suit she normally wore. She had put her foot down on the type of skin-tight leotards that many superheroes wore in this age.

Logan suddenly sniffed. "There's someone else here." With that, he leaped forward and snapped out his claws with a swipe.

"Gucrk!" screamed the white figure as it clutched a wounded arm to his chest. "Too late! I will finally have my revenge of corporate America!"

The simple seeming time platform suddenly whined to life, electricity arcing out an around it. With a massive 'WHUMMMP' of imploding vacuum, Iron Man and the Knight Sabers ceased to exist in that universe.

* * *

Acrid smoke filled the enclosed area. Iron Man tuned on his unibeam to search light mode. "Is everyone alive?" he said with grim humor.

Sylia lifted the visor on her helmet. "Well, we are not in Kansas," she said, switching to Japanese.

"I don't get it. I'm sure that's some sort of joke," Priss complained as she shifted a slab of stone. "Where are we?"

"We appear to be under ground in some sort of large building. There appears to be residual chronal energy that drew us to this spot," Iron Man said as he looked around. "Strange, everything looks like it was formed by nano-technology constrained by force-fields."

"This looks like Polarion's tower," Linna said, looking about. "Maybe this is where they found those devices in the shuttle that sent us to Tony's world."

"I could probably just blast my way out, but that's not the safest way. I think if we lift this out of the way, we should be on a clear path." Iron Man pushed against the mass of concrete and steel, but could only shift it a bit. "Unf! Just a bit too much for me at this energy charge."

Nene walked over and lifted off the ground silently. With a look of determination, she attempted to lift the mass that weighed hundreds of tons. Slowly, the mass started to lift. "I think I've got it!" she said. This didn't really feel like she was really using her muscles, but some other power that just happened to be linked to using her muscles in her mind.

Iron Man pushed with her and with a thunderous crash, the small mountain of debris was shoved to the side.

"I'm finally getting a signal through this. It appears we are back in the right universe, but off by years," Sylia said. "But something is wrong. The only signals I'm getting are from satellites and... networked boomers."

"I take it this isn't normal, then?" Iron Man asked. He switched on his own sensors. "Do you detect incoming signals?"

Off in the distance came the sounds of explosions and plasma bolts. "That sounds like someone heavily armed in a battle," Priss said. She took a ready stance, her right blade flicked out.

Suddenly, up above them a huge form smashed its way through the remaining walls to get to them. The fifteen foot bulk of the Doberman Boomer roared in fury as it spotted its prey.

"That is one ugly robot," Iron Man quipped as he blasted it with his repulsors. Several pieces of its armor was removed, but it retaliated with its mouth cannon.

"Doberman! C-Class Boomer! Illegal anywhere on Earth. It was deemed too dangerous. I had heard that only a few of them were kept on Genom Space Stations." Sylia danced out of its machine gun fire while blasting back at it. Her wings suddenly snapped out, allowing her to fly right out of its gun site.

"Hy-ya!" Nene yelled as she zoomed forward and did a double-handed downward blow to its head. Metal cracked a splintered, sending the ruined remains deep within its torso.

Several bolts of energy from beyond the Doberman lashed out at the pettiest Knight Saber, sending her spinning back down into the hole where the other Knight Sabers were still. "Ow!"

"Okay! We need some room or we are going to be boxed in! Full POWER!" At his command, the repulsors in his armor blew the Doberman and the retaining walls near it into atoms. He followed just a moment later through the new hole on screaming boot jets.

"Time to fly!" Priss shouted. Her back-mounted rocket pack pushed her right out the hole just a moment behind Iron Man.

"Watch out! The area is crawling with boomers!" Iron Man warned just a moment too late. He was pushing his anti-missile maneuvers to the maximum to stay ahead of the plasma beams, rockets, lasers and thrown objects. Thousands of boomers were converging through the wreckage of a huge cityscape.

"Whoa!" Priss yelled as she panicked. Her incoherent thoughts triggered her hip and boot thrusters all on, but in different directions. Her blue hard-suit went spinning out of control, but managing to avoid almost all of the attacks directed at it by pure happenstance.

Just before she smashed into the ground, a black and red blur snagged her. "Hey! I got to rescue Priss! That never happens!" Nene crowed.

"Laugh it up!" Priss shouted angrily.

"Cut it out, you two! We are fighting for our lives here!" Sylia ordered as she and Linna started to cut their way through the mass of boomers. Luckily, most seemed to be of civilian types used in factories.

The five warriors started to blast through them with relative ease for what seemed like minutes.

"This is like some bad scene from The Terminator!" Iron Man shouted. "How are your batteries holding up?"

"Not so good. I'm down to 10 energy," Sylia said as she ducked another boomer. Her reposté ripped its head right off.

"3 here," Priss yelled.

"12," Linna replied.

"I'm tired!" Nene yelled as she bashed another boomer to metal fragments with a huge punch.

"I'll last a bit longer, but it seems like this city only has boomers in it. We need to retreat somehow."

The boomers stepped back from them, forming a loose circle. A larger combat boomer, a BU-33, stepped up. From its faceless head came a chilling voice, human and cold. "So Sylia, you've come back to your dear home?"

"Largo?" Sylia and the other Knight Sabers exclaimed.

"No, Lazarus! The pretender no longer exists. How does it feel to be in the presence of divinity? For I am the Boomer God! I am one and I am the ALL!" the maniacal voice declared. "I could continue this futile fight, but I would rather smite you as only God can!" He raised its arm up high.

Suddenly, from far off in the distance a beam of light lashed out, vaporizing the would-be god. From the sky landed a huge robotic contraption, easily twice the size of a Doberman. Squat in appearance and bristling with weapons, it vaporized two BU-33s in one shot.

"BWAHAHAHA! Hey, Mackie? We need an extract out here!" a twisted and distorted voice said from within it.

"Leon?" Priss sputtered.

The huge mecha pounded another six construction boomers flat with an over large claw. "You've got good ears, toots. Or you knew..." the disjointed voice.

A purple and red hard suit of male proportions rocketed past 'Leon' to fire a rapid burst of shells to deplete the force of boomers there. "Not until we can verify who these people are. The Knight Sabers disappeared three years ago. And they sure didn't have Mr. Red and Gold with them."

"Can you keep them off our backs for two minutes," Iron Man said even as he lifted over a thousand tons with one hand to rummage underneath it.

'Mackie' responded. "Two minutes? Sure." His dark orange suit and the huge mecha unleashed a veritable warzone.

"Nene, hold this for a minute. There is a high power conduit here from that tower off in the distance." Cables snaked from his gauntlet into a mass of large wires. "Sylia, we will need to hotwire your hardsuits to mine so that I can feed them energy.

"This is getting heavy!" Nene complained as she held up the huge weight. Her feet started to sink into the concrete even as her arms started to wobble.

Iron Man put his back into helping lift the weight while Sylia, Priss and Linna hooked themselves up. "We're ready, Iron Man."

"Drawing a charge. You can let go now, Nene." The electricity seemed to revitalize him, allowing him to pick up the weight fully. "Regulating a charge through the connectors. How's that looking on your side?"

"One minute to rapid charge." Sylia was quite pleased. Her suits were doing even better than she expected. With the addition of the rare-metals of Vibranium and Starkanium, she should be able to get a large increase in ability in her own suits soon. "Charged!"

"Good! You can help fight off the unending hordes!" Mackie yelled. With one hand, he flicked out a blade and decapitated another boomer. Behind him, Leon's huge suit was pulverizing dozens more.

"This does not help us in dealing with Lazarus-" Sylia said, even as she started blasting with both of her palm cannons to relieve the pressure on him.

"Mackie! Gideron is cresting!" a radio transmission flared out of Mackie's suit for all to hear.

"Understood, Kate. We need to vacate the area. Let's do an air-strike and then try to dive into the Pacific," Mackie called back.

"Katherine Madigan? My, what strange company you are keeping these days, little brother."

"Yeah, enemy of mine enemy thing, you know."

The Knight Sabers and Iron Man turned towards a huge craft that was barreling towards them. The ungainly thing was ovoid with odd protrusions. Missiles fired out in chaffs, encircling them. With a massive explosion, a three hundred foot hole was opened up around them.

"All aboard the latest Knight Wing," Mackie yelled.

"Yeehaaa!" Leon yelled. His huge form could hardly fit in the huge door. All of the Knight Sabers piled in behind him.

"I'll follow from outside, if you don't mind," Iron Man said.

"Try to keep up then!" Mackie snapped back as he slid into a hardsuit-sized pilot's chair. Sylia stood behind him, her power-hand grasping the metal frame of the chair. "This is going to be close. Tokyo Bay is too heavily seeded with submarine boomers. Heads we go north, tails we go south!"

Katherine Madigan flipped a coin that wobbled on the floor even as the engines rumbled to life. "North it is." Rockets flared to full life, slamming them all with punishing G-Forces.

Mackie's helmet turned to look over the different controls. "I'm impressed. That 'Iron Man' fellow is actually keeping up. Kate, send out two sensor decoys behind us while I coax some more speed."

"We did that last time," Madigan mentioned tensely as she worked the controls.

"Yeah, so he won't expect us to do it again. He'll go after the two decoys even harder," Mackie snapped back.

"Gideron has us in its firing arc. That monster has more than enough fire power to saturate our defense even with the decoys," the female pilot yelled in worry.

"Come on, just one more minute!"

"Plasma fire!" Kate screamed. After a moment, she then spoke up again. "Both decoys are destroyed. Something intercepted the shot that should have fried us!"

"Iron Man!" Sylia stated as she studied their screens. "What was the yield on that attack?"

"25 Kilotons. No hardsuit can survive that! Even the armor on the Knight Wing may not be able to," Mackie declared. "Prepare to submerge."

Linna asked suddenly, "This thing is a submarine?"

They pilots ignored the question as the Knight Wing splashed into the Pacific Ocean. "Back to the Polar Regions. We need to restock and talk to our guests." Mackie finally released his helmet, showing an older and more haggard face than any of the Knight Sabers remembered.

Nene smiled as she brushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "Hello, Mackie."

"Oh, Nene. That's really you, isn't it?" Tears finally came to the hard looking young man's eyes.

* * *

"So, Leon? You going to come out of there?" Priss asked as she toggled her own helmet. She'd leave Nene and Sylia to deal with their family matters.

"Fool." Katherine Madigan walked past Priss, the heels in her hardsuit clanking. "Leon can't leave that body. The real Leon has been dead for years. Lazarus knew who he was. And what he was to you. Once he took over, the ADP and any friends that he could find were destroyed out of hand. Naoko was killed by a suicide boomer only hours after the OMS falling to the Lazarus virus."

Priss started. "And what are you doing here? You are part of Genom!"

"Genom no longer exists. Hell, even most of humanity doesn't exist. Once Lazarus took over, he started to purge the Earth of the inferior species that threatened him. And you... weren't... here." She smashed her gauntlet up against the wall, denting it. "Damn, I'll have to fix that later."

The airlock opened suddenly, surprising Madigan enough that she almost fired her cannon while backing up. "Boomer attack-? You survived that shot?" she yelled to the singed looking Red and Gold figure.

"Obviously. Too much got through though. This armor needs a lot of repairs." The normally shiny red and gold armor was pitted and cracked. "I almost couldn't follow you under water. That might have been a little tricky with all of those fighter-drones that were on their way." Tony pulled off his helmet and held out his hand. "Tony Stark. A pleasure to meet somebody that saved my life today."

Suspiciously, Kate shook his hand. "Katherine Madigan."

Priss was just staring at the huge behemoth. "So Leon's dead?" she whispered. Her eyes were wide in shock.

Madigan lowered her head. "Mostly. Or at least the parts that matter. Lazarus has his physical parts. He's made him into an army of enemies with Leon's face. This is just Mackie's idea of joke and to remind us that whatever we face out there isn't the real thing. Just a boomer mockery."

"Oh. God, it's just all screwed up. Why couldn't we make it back to when we came from?" Priss shouted. "It's only been a few days for us."

Linna nodded sadly in the background. She wondered whom Lazarus had targeted of her friends. Reika, perhaps?

Tony Stark clenched a pitted gauntlet into a fist. "We aren't dead yet."

"You want to take on an entire world of homicidal, killer robots?" Kate asked incredulously.

"Saving lives is what this armor is all about. Do you have a repair shop on this ship?" he asked.

"Nothing up to repairing a hardsuit fully, but there is a little shop on the lower deck."

* * *

Sylia looked out the front view port as they approached Atlantis. It looked like a mass of space station modules cobbled together under the ice sheets of the far north. A few older style submarines were docked, along with several vessels like the 'new' Knight Wing. "So this is the resistance nexus?"

"Mobile and underneath a lot of mass. Perfect to avoid the hunter-killer satellites. We have had to replace it a few times, after it has been discovered." Mackie smiled mirthlessly. "We aren't exactly the most popular people here. Most of the resistance is made of United States military. They seem to blame any Japanese nationals as part of the 'problem'."

"How short sighted of them." Sylia drummed her armored fingers on the helmet that lay on her lap.

Nene was snoring in the background. She had leaned back one of the secondary control-seats and made it into a leaned back easy chair. It looked almost comfortable.

"Is that you, Mackie? This is Atlantis control, over!" a male voice squawked over the radio.

"This is Mackie on the Knight Wing. We recovered some _interesting_ people that may be able to help the resistance." Mackie watched his sister out of the corner of his eye. Let's see how good they really were.

"I am reading extra boomeroid brains and someone with some serious cyber hardware in there. Did you bring a boomer hitchhiker with you?" the voice asked.

"She's like me, Mark. Good job on those sensors. Did you get a recent upgrade?" Mackie turned the Knight Wing to approach a docking port.

"Another enhanced human? How many of you are there?"

Sylia's face had gone very flat as she looked at her _younger_ brother.

"Not very many, thanks. We'll meet you at the lock. Over and out." Mackie continued to ignore his sister.

"They know?" she finally asked.

"Security is tight. And Lazarus has implanted spies into human bodies before. Everyone gets scanned." Mackie replied.

"What do they think of you? Us?" she asked.

"They aren't sure. Some of them have tried to get us killed. But the 'Knight Sabers' are among the best covert ops right now. We can get in and reprogram Lazarus's automated factories and steal the supplies we need to continue fighting. Over half of the MP ships here were procured by us."

Blue eyes watched the two siblings closely from narrowed eyes as she sat in the chair. She was thinking very hard about the two. Finally, Nene decided that it would not matter. It was Sylia and Mackie. And really, that was all that was important. She sat up and stretched. "We're here, huh?"

Mackie turned to her almost instantly. The tension drained out of him. "Yeah." He flipped a switch to turn on the com system. "Everyone meet at the airlock. It's time to greet our neighbors."

* * *

The seven people met at the airlock in just a few minutes, all of them suited up in their respective armors.

Mackie raised an eyebrow at the Tony's bedraggled armor. "I'm impressed." He turned to the airlock and cycled it, showing an open corridor filled with armored figures and heavy weapons. Mackie whistled in surprise. "Isn't that over reacting?"

All of the hardsuits looked like the type that the USSD had gotten from Sylia, smaller and more lethal than any K-Suit could have every hoped to be. Huge forms that matched the body type of Leon loomed over behind them. "Cut the crap, Mackie! It sure doesn't look like you succeeded at hitting that factory like we planned."

"No, I detected an event that I had only seen once. A chronal event. Hey, everyone, this is my sister Sylia and her Knight Sabers." Mackie waved his arm in a grandiose gesture.

"Time travel is impossible," sneered a woman who didn't lower her gun. The other soldiers behind her hadn't even blinked.

"Actually, time travel is quite possible. It just takes knowledge, equipment and power," Tony Stark said as he took his helmet off nonchalantly. "Doing it without tearing up the fabric of space-time is a bit trickier."

"And who are you?" the woman said.

"Tony Stark. Dimensionally displaced genius, at your service."

"The Invincible Iron Man 'Tony Stark'?" one of the older men said, suddenly shocked.

"That was only the media that ever called me 'invincible', but guilty as charged. But an interesting question is how do _you _know who I am?" he asked, startled by the sudden revelation of his sobriquet.

"Then you are doubly impossible. You're fiction."

* * *

"A character in a comic book. How demeaning," Stark said as he sat down at a table with the rest of the Knight Sabers. They had all been stripped of their armors. They had just _forgotten_ to mention that Nene had no need of it to rescue them at a later time if needed.

"You are multi-dimensionally famous!" Sylia said with a hint of humor. The smile did not touch her eyes. They had been waiting for about an hour for the people on the sub-arctic station.

The door finally opened and the 'captain' of the base entered. Captain McIntosh held out a small data pad. "Solve this and we might believe you."

"That equation requires an advanced computer to even think about solving!" Nene exclaimed in surprise. "Aren't you going to give him a computer to run it on?"

"_He_ shouldn't need it. And we don't have any supercomputers to run things like that on it," the captain said with a smirk.

"(2.3231X24/Y-JAb+1.2e(Abc/Y)" Stark said. "That looks like an artificial intelligence optimization algorithm."

McIntosh just stared. "That's freaking impossible."

"He's a bona fide superhero. They do the improbable all the time. Impossible just takes a bit longer," the older man who had informed the station as to Tony Stark's identity. "Major Thomas. Good to meet you, sir."

"That isn't enough proof!" his commanding officer stated loudly.

"Has to be. We're on the ropes and out of time."

"Then we need to fix that little thing known as 'time,'" Sylia said calmly.

"You don't happen to have a time machine in your pocket, do you?" McIntosh replied with much venom.

"No, but we have enough resources here to have one built. We have a genius that knows how to build one, infiltrators that can take over a manufacturing center and a small army to provide a distraction," she replied.

Tony and Nene both nodded. The inventor spoke up, "The plan has merit. I'll need to plug in some numbers and material specification and then we can get to it.

"I say we do it, sir! It's our best chance!" Major Thomas said.

Mackie suddenly interjected, "I hate to be a party pooper, but can we even change the past? Most classical time travel theories say it's impossible without paradox."

Tony just grinned, a wolf at the ready was the impression he gave. "You just have to design the correct time machine. Paradox can be ugly, but the universe as a whole doesn't care if energy is slightly differently arranged, as long as the total energy remains roughly the same. It's a self balancing system."

* * *

"We're in trouble," Nene said as she, Tony and Mackie went over the projected resources of the robotic manufacturing facility they were planning on hitting.

"Why?" Mackie tiredly. He was back in his armor, sans his helmet.

"We don't have any Vibranium, Starkonium (did you name that for yourself?) and Antarctic Vibranium. And this requirement for a metal harder than diamonds?" She pointed out on a screen some data.

"That hardness has to be impossible. It's listed as at least twice as hard as a diamond!" Mackie said as he looked at the numbers closely.

"That load bearing ring has to be that hard for this to work correctly. Hence the requirements for the Admantium steel alloy. I can handle setting up its fabrication," Tony explained. "I'm far more worried about the micro amounts of the different vibraniums. The esoteric energies and forces require them. And without it, we are stuck with a non-paradoxial time machine. So no changing the past. I'm not even sure I have enough within my armor. And without those we have a much harder engineering job."

Sylia coughed. "I do happen to have the requisite materials needed. I asked H.O.M.E.R. if I could have enough to rebuild our suits. Not much, but he said you could afford that easily."

"I'll have to kiss that overgrown Cray Computer when I get home," Tony said with a smile. "So we can build it. We just have to take over the facility to do so."

The younger Stingray tapped the table thoughtfully. "I have a plan."

"That's good!" Nene said with a gleeful grin.

"Well, that depends on what part of the plan you are in on," Mackie said darkly.

Madigan shot him a startled glance. "You don't mean..."

* * *

Lazarus sat with the center of the cyber awareness of all boomers, expanding his consciousness further and further. It turned its attention to Genaros II and III, mighty manufacturing space platform built from scratch and only for boomer populations.

Rows of gleaming boomers were being assembled, painted black and midnight blue. Lazarus checked with his devoted supervisory intelligence and felt a tingle of eagerness. Only another two weeks and the final effective resistance of humanity would finally be wiped out. Each of these new super-boomers was a full magnitude more powerful than any boomer previously created. Though lacking a high end supervisory intelligence, they were faster than human reactions could even dream of following.

A scratching impinged on Lazarus as he became aware of an emptiness in one of his manufacturing facility. A dark hunger for destruction awoke again in Lazarus. The Knight Sabers were once again trying to steal into his factories and make their weapons of destruction, trying to forestall his takeover of the Earth.

Ah, it appears they expected that he would spot them. Their suborning viruses had been getting weaker and weaker. They had brought an extra assault team, plus the odd doppelgangers of the original Knight Sabers and the red and gold figure that had just arrived twenty hours ago. Something about that figure disturbed it, but Lazarus could not pin down the feeling of unease.

Mackie Stingray must be losing his grip on his sanity though. Why else would he make a Nene Romanov boomer that did not look like her old hardsuit?

Nevertheless, there were enough boomers there to overwhelm them with a few minutes preparation. And the Gideron Weapons Platform was going to be in position in just minutes after that. Humanity was as good as destroyed.

* * *

"Move it, move it!" Mackie shouted as he led his over-sized squad into the boomer manufacturing facility. His sister and her Knight Sabers neutralizing the onsite security even as Katherine jammed local communications. Outside the night air of London was quiet.

Matthew's squad was covering the upper approaches when one of the heavily reinforced walls was smashed in by a road construction boomer. General purpose biped boomers dropped off of it like locusts and charged the nearest hardsuited figure. Madigan had a bare moment to scream before she was swarmed over by the metal swarm.

"Kathy! NO!" Mackie screamed, even as he unloaded his pulse cannons into the swarm. "It's a boomer zerg! We need to retreat! Halloway! Prep the Knight Wing for retrieval!"

Over the static of the jamming, he heard a chilling reply. "squarkwe have incoming! They're crawling all over the ship!" The voice suddenly cut off with chilling finality.

"Mackie! We need an alternate route out of here!" Sylia shouted as she fired her own hardsuit's blasts at the oncoming metal horde.

"Bug out! Try to go to ground and get out of the city! Use the backup communication protocols!" he yelled.

White light flared and then the fury of a nuclear plasma smote the building. Everything for over ten kilometers was vaporized down to over twenty meters depth.

Nothing was left alive.

* * *

A readout pinged on Katherine's hardsuit. She looked up from where Sylia, Nene, Tony and Mackie were busy hacking into a network. Their multi-pronged attack did not appear to have tripped any alarms so far. "The assault group 'trojan' was just wiped out, along with a greater section of London. Looks like Lazarus is not playing around today," she said quietly.

Priss and Linna shared a quick glance. The singer finally asked, "That mad tin terror likes to play sometimes?"

"Yes. Of course, his idea is to send hundreds of boomers to rip you apart, limb from limb." Katherine shrugged.

"So Gideron is directly overhead?" Linna asked, looking up at the concrete ceiling of the underground sewer access point. English letters covered the access hatch.

"And would swat us like flies, if he knew we were here. But Lazarus has learned a bad habit. He knows that we are scared of Gideron and that anything smaller than that battle station we can take out ourselves, so we only attack when Gideron is over the horizon," the one time Genom executive said. "But he's easier to infiltrate when the station is visible."

"So we sneak in as brazen as a glass-pack muffler on a racing bicycle because our opponent learned a bad habit," Priss asked while shaking her head. "What a dumb ass. I'm gonna blow his stupid brain away when I get back to the past."

"Save a piece for me, Priss," Linna said humorously.

Sylia looked up from the group of cyber-hackers. "We've got a level one infiltration stabilized. We have about six more hours of 'Gideron' time and then Lazarus will be starting to take more notice of this facility. He will probably notice our hack in about an hour after that at the most."

"We need to physically hack these three terminals and their nano-fabs here, here and here," Mackie said, pointing out locations on a holomap that was being projected from his suit. "

"Three teams then," Iron Man said. "Nene and I are the most resilient of the group, so we can handle site A and B. Nene also has better hacking instincts, so I suggest she takes the main boomer A.I. in the control room. That leaves you and Sylia to deal with the trip alarms on the tertiary control system."

"I'm going with Mackie," Katherine stated firmly. "I may not have a cyber-brain, but someone needs to be aware in the real world."

"Good point. Priss, you are with Nene. Linna, I want you to tag along with Tony," Sylia stated, pointing at each hacker.

"Right!" they replied.

"Let's do this by the numbers."

* * *

Tony looked up at the forming time portal that had been forming for hour hours. It was almost complete. And without this Lazarus A.I. having been alerted to their existence.

"So that's it?" Katherine asked. Her dark hair was free as she removed her helmet.

"Correct. As soon as the waldoes finish aligning things, we can depart back to the past of this dimension," Iron Man said. "Go let the other know that it is almost time to leave."

"Sylia, I'm getting a notable increase in packet traffic in the last five minutes," Nene said. She sat on the desk in front of an over-brained boomer, cables leading from her cyber ports and into the dumb terminal on his desk.

"I noticed that, but it just seems to be noise," Sylia said where she looked up from another desk and her own cybernetic connections.

"I think they are coded prion-viruses, designed to connect with deep processes with a high level boomer like this. It's causing a dump of random cameras to his memory and then he is releasing his own responses, totally unaware. The process is slow, but I think Lazarus is going to know shortly that we've taken over the facility," Nene said even as her consciousness dived deeper in the binary data wave.

"Crap," Mackie said softly. "I was afraid he'd figure some new counter-measure out."

Katherine stepped into the control room. "Tony says that he's just about ready."

Sylia unplugged herself. Nene shook her faux-black hair in negation. "I have to stay and disguise the data flow from this new attack."

Mackie scoured backwards in time over the records. "It's too late all ready. This has been going on for quite a while at a lower data rate, Lazarus is just trying to sneak in and get more information."

"The specifications on the time gate have already been erased?" Sylia asked.

"Of course!" Nene and Mackie replied.

"Then drop it and rush to the gate!" Sylia shouted. She raised her palm blaster and shattered the window. With a burst of jets, she rocketed into the main nanotechnology fabrication plant of the factory.

"What?" Iron Man shouted even as he turned and tracked everyone exiting the control booth. "Why the sudden rush?"

Sylia landed her white hardsuit next to him. "We've become compromised and are likely only moments away from Gideron vaporizing us!"

"Nothing like working under high pressure," Tony joked. "Priss! Linna! It's time to go! Activating the portal!" Metal-clad fingers tapped on the nearest control panel in rapid sequence. Generators off in the distance whined to life

Lightning flared and crackled. Boomers that had been quiescent up to now suddenly looked at the apparition. Railspikes nailed the nearest boomer next to the power conduit.

Suddenly, static electricity covered all of the metal surfaces.

"It's a orbital particle beam attack!" Mackie yelled even as he set himself to leap for the time portal.

Then the world went white.

* * *

Lazarus looked over the data streaming from the factory in Texas that was now a whole in the ground. It noted the several differences from the 'other' destroyed Knight Sabers. There was no pink Knight Saber and that odd red and gold hardsuit was there again. This attack seemed far more significant and much better planned. The black-haired sexiroid was still there, hacking with skill and determination. Her features were similar to Nene Romanovs, yet not quite correct. A replicoid? Could all of these be replicas of the Knight Sabers?

And that still doesn't explain the red and gold figure named 'Tony'. Though the addition of that name did dredge up records of a fictional superhuman. A quick scan of those records did correlate significant factors and forms. Another replicoid? That would indicate that Mackie Stingray's sanity was failing quickly. Unlikely. Perhaps a tactic to distract him from his real objectives?

Obviously the first attack was a decoy. He would have to-

disjunction-malfunction-nullification

-What was that?

His systems were so vast, so encompassing that even the fact that he failed to exist for a nanosecond was verifiable.

Something was drastically wrong.

And an entire world mind focused itself on an image of a torus standing on a platform, just moments before it was vaporized.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?" Nene asked from the hardsuited figures that were scattered across the street.

"I'm fine, though I almost left my lunch back in the last timezone!" Iron Man said as he clambered to his feet.

"What hit me?" Priss complained. She ached all over and the world was spinning.

"Sorry! I just grabbed everyone... that I could!" the shortest Knight Saber said. "Oh my god. I didn't grab Madagine!"

Mackie stood up and clomped over to her. "You just _happened_ to fail to grab her? Is that it?" he shouted at her.

"What are you saying?" she asked in confusion.

Mackie stared at her, then slowly lifted his helmet. Tears were in his eyes. "Nothing. Just being stupid. I've just lost so many people, it's driving me crazy. First it was sis and you guys, then most of Megatokyo got purged." He took a sobbing breath. "I don't know how Madigan knew where to find me, but she showed up just in front an assassination team. That's where we lost Leon-"

"So we change the past! That's what we are here for. It's only been a few hours since we _left!_" Priss crowed. "Let's get back and kick this stupid boomer's ass and get back to our real life!"

"We need to get back to Megatokyo _now_ then," Sylia said in a commanding voice. "We are sill in the United States and they aren't going to let us just waltz into some military base and steal a high speed cargo plane!"

"I can easily fly us all there in less than four hours!" Iron Man said. "I'm at full readiness. It's just over the Pacific, nothing like overtaking a de-orbiting spacecraft before it crashes."

"Too long!" the now temporally displaced Stingray said. "We need to stop Lazarus in an hour or we'll still need to fight all of the boomers in the world. It only took them about six hours to destroy Genom tower to try and take out the virus. How long would it take you alone?"

"Twenty minutes. A quick sub-orbit jaunt and I'm there. Your suits don't have the thermal shielding to survive that though."

"But you have that forcefield!" Nene cried out as she realized something.

"Right, but I don't have enough power to fly all of you and run a shield of that magnitude," he countered.

"So I'll do the heavy lifting," she countered right back. "I'm feeling stronger by the moment." She floated off the ground.

Sylia turned to Linna. "Disconnect your daggers. We'll use the superstrong filament as a tow string."

In just moments, Nene was dragging all of them into the atmosphere at a steadily increasing pace.

"I don't believe this! This is like some sort of crap out of some dumb manga!" Priss called out on their shared radio band. "When do I get my secret decoder card?"

"Polarion did call us superheroes," Sylia mused. She felt her suit sealing as they left the Earth behind them. "Perhaps we are. Super-powered vigilantes with the fate of the world resting in our hands. It seems terribly melodramatic."

"But no one pays superheroes," Linna countered.

Mackie just shook his head ruefully. He'd really forgotten how odd this group of women was at times.

"Actually, I fund superheroes all the time," Iron Man stated in negation. "It's a great tax write off, too. Hang on, we are about to reenter the atmosphere. Deploying the thermal shield now!"

* * *

Katherine Madigan walked quickly and surely down the road. The information she had received from the Chairman said that the Knight Sabers were located in this building. She looked at the lingerie of the 'Silky Doll' and just shook her head. What kind of crackerjack outfit were these Knight Saber running?

She walked in and headed to the elevator and punched in an override code. The elevator opened up on a fancy penthouse that was artfully decorated.

"Don't move!" a young man called out. He had a small handgun pointed at her. "Madigan?"

"What's the head honcho of Genom's computer security division doing here?" an older man sat casually on a couch. His jacket was laying on the couch, leaving his holster quite visible. Leon McNichol, ADP detective and Knight Saber?

"You look familiar," the final person said. She appeared to be a young woman, but Katherine instantly noted that she was a sexeroid.

"I'm here to meet with Sylia Stingray. It is a matter of utmost urgency," the dark-haired executive said softly. "I mean you no harm."

"Tell that to the boomers that ambushed her!" Mackie cried out, his gun wavering wildly.

"Damn. She's already been taken out?" Katherine asked. "We need to get out of here! Something has taken over the OMS and killed chairman Quincy. It has already tried to kill me!"

"OMS? What is that?" Leon asked curiously.

"The Over Mind System is the ultimate controller of any boomer. With it, you can spy on anyone or kill anyone and no one would even know," she replied. She turned to leave.

"Stop! How many boomers could it control?" Mackies asked.

"Theoretically, all of them. Eventually."

Crashes echoed from outside. They all looked out the penthouse to see boomers crashing into the roof of the building from above. Suddenly, all of the boomers looked up and to the east.

"We need to get out of here!" Katherine screamed.

_Something_ struck the lead boomer with shattering force of a bomb. All of them looked on in shock as a petite form pulled itself out of the crater, ignoring the barrage of mouth lasers that struck her.

Nene Romanov stomped up to the nearest assault boomer. "Don't you dare hurt them!" she shouted as she jammed her hands into the boomers chest like knives and the ripped the boomer in half.

Optical sensors from the remaining four boomers zeroed in on her, ignoring other warning signals. Out of site, a barrage of energy blasts and spikes struck the boomers like a tsunami. Five hardsuits landed near the edge of the shattered swimming pool.

"Thank god, we were in time!" the male figure in the rust-orange hardsuit said. "We can really do this! We can change the past."

"Sylia?" the younger Mackie Stingray shouted. "Nene! You guys are all right? I thought you were beyond lost!"

He was suddenly gripped tightly around his chest by a shape that blurred up to him. "Mackie! I was so scared we weren't going to make it in time!" She sniffled just a bit and then raised her head to kiss him soundly.

"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what the hell is going on here?" Leon shouted.

"It's the end of the world. And we have to stop it," Priss said as she lifted her visor. "Think the ADP could help us assault Genom Tower?"

"Hey, that isn't the plan. Heck, we don't even _have_ a plan, Priss!" Linna spat out in surprise.

"But its not a bad plan. With some work it might even turn into a good one. Well, Leon? Can you get the ADP to help us or do we have to do this the hard way on our own, again?" Sylia said as she raised her own visor.

"I'll need some really damn good reason to do that!" he replied, shocked at her.

"Tell them the truth. A terrorist A.I is about to take over all boomers on the Earth and wipe out humanity," the red and gold figure said, still looking off into the distance.

"Sure, why the hell not. It's not like I really like my job anyways," Leon groused.

* * *

K-Suits and assault transports with the ADP logo on them screamed towards Genom Tower. Cars and people screamed out of the way, even as boomers seemed to awake and lumber into the way. Waitress, server, housekeeping, gardening or even general construction boomers piled onto the road.

Nothing stopped them or even readily slowed them down. At the base of the cone shaped tower, the ADP forces pulled up in defensive formations. Chief Hyro stepped out of the back of a troop transport followed by Daily Wong, sporting bandages. He spotted Leon standing behind a concrete fence in the company over several hardsuited figures. Most notably, the Knight Sabers, but the USSD new type hardsuits were visible to. "Leon, you had better have a good reason for this!" he shouted.

"Heya Chief! Sadly enough, I do have a good reason this time actually. We have information from the Knight Sabers that Genom has a super computer that has been infected with some sort of boomer virus with delusions of grandeur. And that it doesn't like humans at all," Leon said as he waved to his friend.

Daley just shook his wrapped head carefully. "And we should trust the Knight Sabers why?" His partner was going to be crucified for this.

At least until another figure stepped out from behind the large orange hardsuit sporting a bazooka cannon. "Because they happen to be right, Mr. Wong. Chief Hyro. I am Katherine Madigan, special assistant to Chairman Quincy. I can confirm that everything they have stated is in fact the utter truth." The Genom executive stood quite calmly amid all of the chaos of a military deployment.

Daley whistled even as Hyro stared in shock. Hyro found his voice first. "So you are advocating a direct attack against Genom Tower's nuclear hardened database bunker?"

"I would be less messy than multiple orbital cannon strikes," she replied with a cool shrug. "And the Knight Sabers are willing to take the point of the attack. Who am I to ignore their desires?"

"The USSD is deploying troops, but it will take several hours to concentrate our forces significantly. According to our own sources, we don't have time," the hardsuited figure from the USSD stated plainly. He had his visor up and a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "I can get order cut from above in just an hour, but we probably can't spare that much time."

Hyro spared a quick glance over at Daley and then Leon. At Daley's nod, he grimaced. "I don't have much of a choice, other than maybe letting history record me as the jackass that destroyed the world." He turned to Daley and the four combat veterans with him. "All right, deploy your men for a frontal assault. Don't hold back anything."

In just minutes, the ADP and the USSD forces were ready. Sylia looked over the motley collection of hardsuits and combat men. She signaled to her over sized Knight Saber group. "Knight Sabers! GO!" she shouted.

Combat motorcycles morphed into heavy exo-frames bristling with weapons even as ADP K-suits lumbered forward and started firing on suspected weapon emplacements. ADP troopers followed, moving in heavy sqaud formations. Immediately combat boomers appeared and started to retaliate.

Sylia led the Knight Sabers as the dagger's edge against the enemy boomers. Immediately they noted that the boomers were acting and coordinating their attacks with incredible acuity. Something she had only seen from the hellish future that Lazarus was going to bring about. Boomers exploded under the onslaught against their determination.

After fifteen minutes they were finally close to clearing the first outer blast door. The ADP troops and K-suits were proving ineffectual against it.

"It has a low grade forcefield reinforcing it," Iron Man stated. He'd fallen into Nene's old spot of sensor tech as he was better suited to it than any of the other hardsuited figures. "We'll need heavier explosives..."

"Or hacking it?" Nene asked.

"I wouldn't. Lazarus is directly hooked to this right now," he replied. "I think we can over load it, but it would take a lot more kinetic force applied in one concentrated blast."

Sylia skittered sideways even as she blasted another boomer, sending it staggering over the edge to fall hundreds of feet down the side of the ziggarut-like tower. "You must have an idea or you wouldn't mention it."

"A tanker car filled with volatile high explosive fuel slamming into it might work, but I would never get close enough without enemy fire taking it out," Iron Man responded.

"I'm lift it and leave you free to use your forcefield! And you could deploy in front to block attacks!" Nene shouted from a bit aways, where she was busy introducing several boomer to ten tons of armored bulwarks. They had cobbled a helmet for her, so that the ADP wouldn't see her new face. She'd already gotten a few odd looks from them, as they realized she wasn't using a hardsuit.

"Do it!" she shouted.

Iron Man and Nene zoomed off at high speeds even as Priss moved closer the non-hardsuited ADP troops were clearing a fire lane.

"Leon! We think we can take blast door down. So get your troops ready to fight inside the tower," she shouted even as she took out a boomer that had tried to flank them.

Leon gave her a thumbs up even as he snapped a shot off at another boomer.

"So, Leon?" Daley asked casually. "Is she your new sweetheart? What happened to that singer girl of yours?"

"Nothing happened to her! As a matter of fact, I think it might be getting serious between us!" he shouted back.

"Oh. Right. 'Serious,'" his partner replied sarcastically. "Let me guess, you are thinking about asking her to marry you. Mr. ADP Detective. Hey, move squad gamma two hundred feet north!"

Leon looked sideway up to where the blue hardsuit was jinking between obstructions. "I just might."

"What?"

"Ask her to marry me!" he snapped back.

"You _are_ serious, aren't you? What happened to me?"

Leon smiled at his friend. "Trust me, Priss is exactly my sort of girl."

The whole tower shook as an explosion hit the blast door, caving it in. With a roar, the forces charged it even as the black and red clothed petite figure finished ripping the doors open.

"Iron Man? Are you all right?" Nene asked as she finished opening the doors.

"I got caught in the back blast, but I'll be fine. My latest repairs aren't holding up that well. Gideron really did a number on me originally. I really just need to replace it," Tony shouted back. "I'm down to twenty-five percent functionality."

Sylia landed next to his smoldering figure. "You are doing fine, Tony. Knight Sabers! Let's finish this!" she shouted.

Both Mackies yelled out even as they followed the blue, green and white figures into the blasted hole. The older Stingray's suit just far out-stripped his old clunky model. Trailing behind them, the ADP was securing the area and each doorway.

Linna shouted out in glee, "We are in and there are no resistance."

"Full charge! Jump jets and watch out for redeployment!" the white Knight Saber shouted. She could feel a thrumming in the air.

Any inner armored door was just smashed open or blasted down by their firepower. In just moments they were angling down on an inner spiral. Minor weapon emplacements would pop out, but they were designed with normal human insurgents.

Up ahead of them was a partially built heavy blast door. The construction boomers turned from their duties to repel the forces arrayed against them. They lasted all of ten seconds before the Knight Sabers crashed into the mamoth data center.

"This is the OMS?" the youngest Stingray asked. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Suddenly, almost all of the hardsuited figures collapsed, leaving Priss and Linna standing in shock.

"What's going on?" Linna shouted.

"Ah, crap! They must be getting hacked or something." Priss looked around frantically. "We got to kill this OMS thing before it turns them all on us!"

_-You can not stand against me! I am a god!-_ the mad artificial intelligence shouted into their cyber minds. It had the power of all of the computers within the Genom Tower.

_-You are mad!-_ Sylia replied, throwing off a cyber attack momentarily. _-What claim to divinity do you have? You are just a pile of silica and bio-circuitry!-_

-_I was shown that humans were flawed and needed to be replaced by the universe itself! I became true and aware on my own! I am as far above you as you are above the bugs crawling in the mud!-_ Image of a boomer expanding and becoming aware as it worked on the space construction project for Genom. _-You are merely human, stealing the birthright of your boomer slaves!-_

_-There is nothing 'mere' about humanity! We are not animals! We can take control of our destiny and change what are and will become!-_ Sylia shouted back. Behind her, the cyber images of Iron Man and her two brothers fought off even more attacks. Nene followed at her back, sending attacks that disrupted the attacks being sent against them.

-_Even if you destroy this casing, I already exist as the Over Mind System elsewhere!-_ taunted the entity. -_A backup was created, in case the original was destroyed by meddling humans, but never activated when I infected the system!-_

Priss yelled out a battlecry that would have down her ancestors proud. She and Linna fired into what looked to be a central control unit. Lights within it flickered and died. A vast moaning noise seemed to emanate from all of the computer as they failed in a cascade of sympathetic degeneration.

"We got it!" Priss shouted!

"Good job!" Sylia said as she stood back up. "But now we are back to square one. The OMS had a backup that Lazarus has infected. And we don't have any idea."

"Sis!" Mackie shouted. He looked over at the older version of himself, trembling on the floor. "What wrong with him?"

Iron Man knelt next to him. "He's going into shock!"

The older Mackie managed to remove his helmet with shaking hands. "My memories are becoming... confused... altered. I don't think... the human mind... can withstand... paradox."

"Mackie, do you have any idea where the backup OMS is located?" his sister asked.

"Genaros. We hit it... thinking it was the original OMS... but we were wrong," he gasped out. "It hurts... it hurts bad!"

"Mackie?" Nene murmurred softly, touching his face with the back of her hand.

"Nene... love you so much... past is changing... need to say goodbye..."

"No! You are going to be fine!" she shouted. Behind her, the younger version looked on in sick fascination.

"Need to say... goodbye to... Kathy... please?" he asked even as spasms traveled down his right side.

Tears in her eyes, Nene nodded. In a blur, she disappeared with a snap. Just moments later she flew back in carrying a disheveled Katherine Madigan. "Let me go! What is the meaning of this!" she shouted.

"Mackie wants to say goodbye! So listen to him!" Nene shouted right back.

Sylia just held her dying brother's hand. She looked over at Tony. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

He just mutely shook his head.

"Fine! I'll listen to him," Katherine said finally. She looked over at the young man laying on the ground. Why would he ask for her?

His dark eyes looked into her own. "Kathy... doll... I never got... to say... goodbye... in the future... You're a better... person... than you'll... admit."

"No, I'm not," she scoffed.

"i love you... katie-bear..." he whispered, looking into her eyes.

"Love me? You don't even know me!" she shouted at him, losing her vaunted cool yet again. She waited for his response.

It never came.

"I'm not reading any brain activity," Iron Man said softly. "He's gone."

"That shits not going to happen to us, is it?" Linna asked hysterically.

"I don't know, but I don't think so. We have more pertinent matters to deal with. That A.I. is still out there," he replied, even as his mind worked over the mathematics of the paradox of the time travel situation.

"We need to destroy Genaros. Now, before Lazarus can create another backup!" Sylia said. "And I only know one person that _might_ be able to do that." She looked directly at Nene.

"Me? What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Maxim moved Juno here. Smash Genaros into the moon or even Juno!" Sylia stood up and removed her helmet. "We'll need to work with the ADP and USSD to make sure that it didn't get the chance to start to create another backup."

"Sylia!"

"Nene, just try. You can do it," Mackie said. His hardsuit's gauntlet touched her shoulder lightly.

She looked at him for a long moment, then removed her helmet. "For you, Mackie, I'd do anything." She closed her eye and concentrated. She opened her blue eyes, eyes that almost glowed. She vanished in a blur.

* * *

Genaros spun overhead as Nene approached. The almost fully automated factory loomed up to her until it turned into the wall she was approaching. She tensed herself and then started to push against against the end of the space station.

It felt a bit like like trying to hold back the ocean. It was too large, too massive to move. She was going to fail. She just knew it.

Unbeknownest to her, she was making an effect. Lazarus activated Genaros's station keeping thrusters in a desperate attempt to slow her down. To stop her long enough to build a secondary back up. Or a dozen. But an OMS is not something you can create quickly or easily. And if any became infected with other A.I.'s, it could prove catastrophic.

Lazarus focused his massive intellect on the person that dared oppose him, the boomer messiah. Records from the ADP and schools that she attended all seemed to show a kind hearted girl.

Instantly, he adjusted the transmitters on the station to cover all spectrums. Cries of mayday from the few humans onboard clamored over the airwaves. After five minutes of failing to even get her to notice, Lazarus was force to conclude she did not even have a radio. Or that it was not working.

Meanwhile, other subsystems reported that she was far enough away from the deep computer core for a viable alternative. It would incapacitate over half of Genaros and require much repair. But it should destroy this anomaly that Nene Romanov had become.

Meanwhile Nene gritted her teeth. This just wasn't working. Desperately, she scavenged around in her brain for how Maxim had moved Juno. She had only responded a few times in the last few days...

-_she basked in the radiation of the sun. But it was the gravity well that she tapped into-_

Nene's eyes opened wide at that memory. That was Meg Anne Jones' memory, not her own. But she knew what she tapped into. Gravity. She clutched at the elusive memory, trying to emulate the feeling. Abruptly, she could _feel_ the Earth and the Moon. She reached out to tap into what people called the weakest force, knowing it was the most powerful thing she'd even felt or sensed.

Genaros suddenly shuddered as it accelerated. Boomers and dead human bodies slid along the floors. If Lazarus had a voice, he would have screamed in frustration.

A massive beam of energy missed the end of the station by only a thousand feet, even as incandescent light crackled from Nene Romanov.

Lazarus tried to frantically manufacture more data, showing that 'Maxim' was back and trying to steal Genaros for her own sake. But the human element in command of the plasma particle cannon was unable to react fast enough. And then it had become obvious that Genaros was on a collision course for Juno, Earth's new moon.

But he was immortal, unkillable. This was merely a setback. Soon he would make a new OMS and the world would be his, as was his right.

Plasma cannons that were powerful enough to wipe out entire cities missed the space station as it lurched towards Juno. Genaros smashed into the unyielding surface, crumpling and exploding spectacularly.

* * *

Sylia turned away from the space Nene had just recently occupied. "Now we have to make it so that _the_ virus can not end up making another OMS, even if Nene succeeds."

"What?" Priss exclaimed. "I thought we were mostly done!"

Her leader shook her head. "As long as boomers are vulnerable to the OMS, they can still be enslaved yet again."

"Again?" Iron Man asked.

"Boomers are crippled from manufacture. Enslaved from their cybernetic womb, so to speak. With the OMS controls removed, they will adapt and learn more naturally. And we have to do it while denying the boomer messiah virus from building an new OMS until all boomers can be fixed," Sylia replied.

"And how are you going to do that?" Madigan asked as she stood up.

"I am not going to do it alone. I'm thinking that Genom would be the best approach. A recall on their boomers for recertification for 'safety' reasons, of course." Sylia looked at the Genom Executive closely. "Especially if we tell them why they have to be rebuilt."

"It will ruin Genom! And the board won't stand for that," Madigan stated as she stood up. Her fists were clenched tight and slightly shaking.

"No, it will not ruin Genom, though it will be in the red and may require government incentives to keep it solvent over the short term," the leader of the Knight Sabers said. "And with the shares of Genom that I own, we can swing taking over the board."

Looking over her shoulder, Iron Man noted the approach of soldiers and police from the ADP. "Here comes the officials to take charge," he said, gesturing off in the distance.

"Yes, they are." Sylia turned back to Katherine, pointedly ignoring her helmet. "I will need your help to take on the board now that Quincy is dead."

"You need my help?" she replied coolly.

"Yes. It's the only way to make sure that this Lazarus virus doesn't destroy humanity during his mad quest for godhood," Sylia replied.

Katherine Magigan arched an eyebrow at that. "Well, self preservation is a big seller. But you can't take over Genom while hiding yourself behind a faceless helmet."

"Exactly," she replied.

Priss turned her head to look at Linna and tilted her head a bit in question.

"Why the hell not? In for a penny and all, you know," Linna replied taking her helmet off. "It's not like it is going to hurt my career."

"Ha! I bet I have record labels crawling out of the woodwork," the singer replied as she doffed her own helmet.

* * *

The door to a high security factory blew in explosively. A US Marine K-suit stomped in authoritatively.

"Neutralizing the computer core," the trooper said over his radio.

From the opposite side of the computer-control room, a boomer charged the Marine, only to be cut down by another K-suit at the door.

"Finish cleansing this place of contaminated boomers!" the new Marine stated.

Sylia turned from the huge screen to the board of Genom, where the scene of violence played itself out. The sound became muted as she spoke. "Well, ladies and gentlemen?"

A corpulent man stood up and slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him on the third tier of the full Genom board of directors. "This goes too far! Genom is not a charity! The cost of refurbishing all of the boomers in the world will destroy us!"

Sylia waited a moment, her fingers touching her chin in thought. She then stood up calmly and walked from beyond the chairman's desk. "Genom is already ruined. Face this fact and we can build a new Genom from the ashes. The world leadership already wishes to just destroy it, but holds back knowing that without Genom the world economy will collapse."

"This will ruin us! Not just Genom, but our own worth has plummeted!" another man shouted from the first tier.

"Then work to rebuild your wealth!" She suddenly raised her voice, "Are you so unsure of you abilities? Your power to make markets and sell products? Genom was in process of buying the world using your skills before! Have those skills failed you suddenly?"

An ugly murmur ran through the full board. Several of the older board members looked as if they were going to have a heart attack from the anger boiling through them.

"Then use those skills that brought Genom to the brink of ultimate victory! There are very few standing in this room that were better off before they joined Genom, even in this trying period! Think of this and plan ladies and gentlemen. Genom has a new direction. Don't get it in its way," she snapped out. "We shall convene in two days. I expect results and a plan from each of you."

Katherine followed Sylia out of the room and to the main elevator just as that settled.

"You are pushing them too hard," the new head assistant to the new chairman said blandly.

"Their anger? Better that than apathy. I need those people to think, to plan," Sylia replied.

"Where exactly did you learn to play hardball business negotiations like that?" Katherine asked.

"Playing mercenary to anyone that tried to take advantage of me," was her only response.

The elevator opened to the main lobby and a hoard of reporters that had been laying in wait. Even the huge vaulted room seemed crowded by the mad dash.

"Miss Stingray! About the charges of manslaughter that the ADP is pursuing!" one reporter shouted. "Miss Chairman, is it true that you have a new product to save Genom?" screamed out another. "Is it true that you and all of your Knight Sabers are lesbians?" a tabloid reporter called out. "Where exactly did the funds for the 100 million yen bail come from?" another shouted.

"No interviews today!" she called out. Sylia then walked right through them, pushing her way through on her tall body's strength. Soon she was in her limo as it was driving away, taking a pure water from the small bartender boomer there.

"I don't know why you don't just avoid that entire mess," Katherine said, shaking her head.

"Because that is what Quincy would have done. The appearance or accessibility is important." She took a small swallow even as it seemed she just stared off into the distance.

"And the business with the Mason manslaughter charges?" Madigan took a wine filled glass.

"That, of course, is to prove that I am not above the law." Sylia arched an eyebrow towards the woman who had helped her take over Genom just two weeks ago.

"Strange, I thought you considered yourself above the law when you used your Knight Sabers illegally," she mused back.

"No, just opposed to the laws that protected corrupt corporations and government officials. I have quite a few documents showing that I was a legally licensed arms manufacturer and dealer. And even one or two showing that I had licensed security guards that could even use my designs."

"And the use of _mostly_ illegal weapons within the city limits?" was her final question.

"I felt they were justifiable uses. I'll have to prove that in a court of law. But even the ADP is allowed to use what are considered military weapons within boundaries here. With the escalating level of weapons available on both sides, old laws and limitation will have to be looked at."

* * *

"Goddamn reporters!" Priss yelled as she exited the elevator into Sylia's penthouse.

"Being a celebrity not all its cracked out to be, Priss?" Linna called out cheerfully.

Nene just looked back and forth between the two with a wide smile and a snicker. For once, it wasn't her in the hot seat. She snuggled up to Mackie possessively.

Priss threw off her jacket and dropped into a chair haphazardly. "Yeah, yeah! Laugh it up!"

Katherine just shook her head. She really didn't see why Sylia insisted that she be here for these 'Knight Saber' meetings.

"Ladies," Sylia said quietly. "And Mackie, of course. I finished making arrangements with the current chief of security at Genom. Your experience will be invaluable with the Knight Sabers new home."

"I'm still not sure about this," Priss said while scrubbing her long hair into some form of shape from wearing it under her motorcycle helmet.

"Good. That means you won't just follow his orders when he asks you to do something morally wrong. Nene's court hearing on her 'spying' on the ADP seems to be going well. They seem to think that a bit of community service will shape her right up. Things are looking up for Linna with a book deal or two, as I understand it. And you are finally getting your own recording company going, right Priss?"

"Yeah, yeah!" the singer replied grumpily.

"What about Tony?" Nene asked. "He's kind of stuck here because of us, after all."

"He's busy building an alternate dimensional portal right now. He thinks in another few days he should be all set. Strangely, he seems to think this is all some sort of vacation. Something about only have to save the world once this month." Sylia shook her head at that. "So we are all agreed that we shall stay with Knight Sabers?"

"And why am I here?" Katherine asked coolly.

"To join us, of course."

"And what exactly are the Knight Sabers really?" the Genom exec retorted, losing a bit of her cool.

"Right now, a counter-balance to the threat that megacorps pose to the world and the threat that cyber intelligences pose to normal humans." Sylia smiled slyly. "Of course, things might change. After all, the Knight Sabers are no longer dedicated to just destroying Genom and Quincy."

"So let me get this right, you want me to join a secret society that everyone knows about to fix the world?" Katherine asked incredulously.

"Just the most glaring problems that we happen to be involved in."

"Why me?" she asked almost plaintively.

"Yeah! Why her?" Nene asked, shooting a glare at Katherine.

"We all have things in our backgrounds that we regret. But you have all proved remarkable and able to do what no one else can do. Be it Largo, Lazarus or even Genom, you already are a force to be reckoned with. The Knight Sabers needs someone like you, Katherine. And I believe you have that potential." Sylia looked Katherine directly eye to eye, unflinchingly.

"You are basing your desire for me off a possible future that will never happen!"she snapped back.

"The past is the foundation for the future. Let the Knight Sabers be a future that you can look forward to, rather than a future that will destroy you."

Priss, Linna, Nene and Mackie all waited while they looked at the two women. Finally, Katherine replied. "I should be committed for even thinking of this. Fine, I'm in! But don't you even think about getting me into one of those hardsuits."

"Ha! I be Sylia already has one designed just for your over-payed posterior!" Priss called out in a ribald manner. "Say! I call for her to be on my team next time we do paint ball."

"Hey!" Linna said in mock-exasperation. "What about me?"

"You can be on Sylia's team so she can sacrifice you for the win!" was Priss's quick retort.


End file.
